Lumbini Lions crush Kathmandu Gorkhas with fierce bowling in NPL Eliminator (photos)
Sher Malla and captain Rohit Paudel led the attack brilliantly, claiming three wickets each.
KATHMANDU: Lumbini Lions produced a disciplined bowling performance to restrict Kathmandu Gorkhas to a low total in the Eliminator match of the Nepal Premier League (NPL) at the TU International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur, on Wednesday.
Kathmandu captain Karan KC won the toss and opted to bat first, but the side was bowled out for just 111 runs in 19.1 overs.
Lumbini’s Bowling Dominates
Sher Malla and captain Rohit Paudel led the attack brilliantly, claiming three wickets each.
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Sher gave away 22 runs in 4 overs,
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Rohit conceded 25 runs in 4 overs,
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Ruben Trumpelmann took 2 wickets for just 10 runs in 3.1 overs,
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Abhisehk Gautam added 1 wicket, giving away 33 runs in his 4-over spell.
Trumpelmann gave Lumbini an early breakthrough by dismissing Ben Charlesworth for 4, caught behind. Soon after, Milind Kumar was bowled by Sher for just 2 runs.
Middle Order Falters
Bhim Sarki struck one six but managed only 14 runs off 16 balls. Rohit Paudel’s crucial over saw him remove both Bhim Sarki and John Simpson, tightening Lumbini’s grip on the match. Simpson scored 18 off 17 balls, hitting one four and a six.
Rashid Khan added only 2 runs before falling cheaply. Mohammad Adil Ansari played a brief but aggressive innings, hammering 18 runs off 11 balls with two sixes and a four, before Sher bowled him.
Karan KC contributed 9 runs with a six, while Santosh Yadav top-scored for Kathmandu with 23 runs off 17 balls, including a six. Shahab Alam remained unbeaten on 4.
What’s Next
The winner of this Eliminator will face Biratnagar Kings in Qualifier 2 on Thursday. The victor of that match will take on Sudurpashchim Royals in the final on Saturday.
Kathmandu fielded an unchanged playing XI from their previous match. Lumbini replaced Sumit Maharjan with Dinesh Adhikari, playing his second match of the tournament.
Although he featured against Chitwan Rhinos earlier, he had not batted or bowled in that game.
In the league stage, Kathmandu had finished third with 10 points, while Lumbini stood fourth with 8 points. Kathmandu had also defeated Lumbini in the league round by 22 runs and had beaten them by 18 runs last year as well.
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