Sudurpaschim Royals Set 86-Run Target for Chitwan Rhinos in NPL Final

In the final of Nepal Premier League (NPL) Season 2 being played on Saturday, Sudurpaschim Royals have set an easy target of 86 runs for Lumbini Lions to win the title.

After winning the toss at the Tribhuvan International Cricket Stadium, Sudurpaschim chose to bat first but were bowled out for just 85 runs on the first ball of the 19th over.

Sudurpaschim came under pressure early after opener Binod Bhandari was out on the last ball of the first over. He faced two balls and was dismissed for zero by Ruben Trumpelmann, caught by Dinesh Adhikari.

The team failed to recover after losing early wickets and could not build any momentum.

Sheldon Jackson came in after the early wicket but was out for 1 run from 3 balls, again dismissed by Ruben.

Aasif Sheikh scored 6 runs from 6 balls before being out to Sher Malla. Arif hit the first boundary for Sudurpaschim on the third ball of the third over.

Sudurpaschim had to wait 38 balls for their second boundary. Captain Dipendra Singh Airee hit a six on the fifth ball of the ninth over.

Dipendra was out as the fourth wicket on the fourth ball of the 10th over. He scored 13 runs from 20 balls, and the team score was 44 at that time.

Lumbini captain Rohit Paudel took a hat-trick in the 10th over. He dismissed Dipendra on the fourth ball, Deepak Bohara on the fifth ball, and Punit Mehra on the last ball of the over. Both Deepak and Punit were out for zero.

Rohit’s hat-trick made Sudurpaschim’s batting collapse even worse.