Cricket

Lumbini All Stars became the inaugural Nepal T20 League champions after beating Biratnagar Super Kings by 24 runs in the final on Wednesday.

Chasing a 134-run target set by Lumbini at the TU Cricket Ground, Biratnagar were restricted to 109 runs for the loss of eight wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Arjun Saud top scored with 34 runs for Biratnagar. Prithu Baskota (31) and Hussain Talat (13) were the only other batters to attain double figures. 

Biratnagar suffered an early blow, losing opener Gauranshu Sharma for four runs. Before long, team captain Rohit Kumar Paudel fell without scoring. Talat then found himself short of the crease and Raj Nannan was dismissed for six runs.

Pressure mounted on Biratnagar when Saud fell on the fifth ball of the 13th over. Bibek Kumar Yadav (6) soon followed him to the pavilion, and the Super Kings lost the plot when Banskota was bowled in the 18th over.

Harmeet Singh and Sagar Dhakal took two wickets each for Lumbini, while Bipul Sharma and Kishore Mahato took one wicket each.

Earlier, Lumbini scored 133 runs in 19.2 overs after they won the toss and elected for the first use of the pitch. 

Lumibini made a solid start to their innings, with openers Harmeet Singh and Lahiru Milantha sharing 64 runs in 5.5 overs.

Singh hit 30 runs from 18 balls with the help of three fours and two sixes. Milantha made 41 from 28 balls, hitting fours and three sixes. 

After their departures, Biratnagar pegged back Lumbini innings. Captain Dipendrasinh Airey made 20 runs and Ishan Pandey 18, but the rest of the batters failed to reach double figures.

Biratnagar bowlers Nandan Yadav and Raj Nannan took two wickets each.

The All Stars will get a cash prize of Rs5.5 million and the Super Kings will receive Rs3 million. However, with the tournament overshadowed by spot-fixing charges, it is uncertain when the winning teams and players will receive their prize money.