Chitwan Rhinos Vs Lumbini Lions, NPL 2025 Highlights: Lions Off To Perfect Start With 6 Wicket Win Over Rhinos

Hello and Good Afternoon to all those joining us today for the live coverage of Nepal Premier League's match number 5 between Chitwan Rhinos and Lumbini Lions at the Tribhuvan Cricket Stadium in Kirtipur. The match is set to begin from 3:45PM (IST) onwards.

Chitwan Rhinos Squad: Deepak Bohara, Dawid Malan, Dev Khanal, Ravi Bopara, Kushal Malla(c), Saif Zaib, Arjun Saud(w), Sohail Tanvir, Bipin Acharya, Kamal Singh Airee, Rijan Dhakal, Ranjit Kumar, Gautam KC, Amar Routela, Bipin Rawal, Alpesh Ramjani

Lumbini Lions Squad: D Arcy Short, Sundeep Jora, Dilip Nath(w), Rohit Paudel(c), Gulbadin Naib, Aadil Khan, Sher Malla, Durgesh Gupta, Tilak Bhandari, Thomas Draca, Sumit Maharjan, Abhishesh Gautam, Bishal Patel

Lumbini Lions captain Rohit Paudel won the toss and chose to bowl first.

Kushal Malla (C), Rijan Dhakal, Dev Khanal, Arjun Said (WK), Deepak Bohara, Amar S. Routela, Kamal Singh Airee, Ravi Bopara (O), Sohail Tanvir (O), Saif Zaib (O) and Dawid Malan (O).

Rohit Paudel (C), Sundeep Jora, JJ Smit (O), Gulbadin Naib (O), D'Arcy Short (O), Ruben Trumpleman (O), Sameer Ali (WK), Dilip Nath, Sher Malla, Abhishesh Gautam and Dinesh Adhikari.

We are underway for match number 5 of the NPL 2025 between Chitwan Rhinos and Lumbini Lions. Deepak Bohara and Dawid Malan have opened the innings for Rhinos. Ruben Trumpleman bowls the first over.

After Deepak Bohara got off the mark with a single, Dawid Malan got out for a golden duck by Ruben Trumpleman, who strikes first in the match. Terrific ball by the South Africa, pitches it slightly outside off and Malan chops the ball into the stumps after an inside edge.

Rhinos: 1/1 (0.2)

Dream start to the new NPL campaign for the Lumbini Lions, who have picked 2 wickets in the space of 4 overs. After Dawid Malan's departure in the first over, his opening partner Deepak Bohara got stumped, courtesy of Abhishesh's bowling and Sameer Ali's sharp work behin the stumps.

Rhinos: 15/2 (3.1) 

Former England international Ravi Bopara, who was the man of the match for Rhinos in their season opener, has walked out in the middle pre-maturely. The onus will be on him once again to build the innings.

It has been a very slow start for the Chitwan Rhinos, who have lost 2 wickets at the loss of 32 runs in the powerplay. The 3rd Rhinos wicket fell in the 8th over as Abhishesh Gautam took his second wicket of the day in the form of Dev Khanal, who departed for 14 off 19.

Plenty depends on Ravi Bopara and skipper Kushal Malla, who are currently at the crease. The current run-rate is running low at 5.40 per over and the duo will have to pace up in the remaining 7 overs to post anything over 150.

It doesn't seem to be working out for the Chitwan Rhino, who have been reduced to 4 wickets and they haven't even scored 100 runs yet. Skipper Kushal Malla is the latest to head back to the pavilion for a score of 21 off 18 by Ruben Trumpleman, who gets his 2nd wicket of the day.

Ravi Bopara is showcasing his experience yet again as he brings up his second consecutive half-century of the Nepal Premier League 2025. Although he has had a low strike rate of 115, he is proving to be the talisman for the Chitwan Rhinos.

Ruben Trumplemann has surely been the pick of the bowlers tonight as he gets his 3rd wicket of the day in the form of Saif Zaib, who goes out for 15 off 7. The Lumbini Lions pacer has leaked only 6 runs per over and has taken a wicket off his final over of the spell.

Brilliant bowling performance from the Lumbini Lions, who have restricted the Chitwan Rhinos for 142, which could be a fighting total given the advantage bowlers received in the 1st innings. Lions left-arm pacer Ruben Trumplemann was the pick of the bowlers with his spell of 3/23 (4).

Ravi Bopara once again delivered for the Rhinos with his 66 off 55. Deepak Bohara (10 off 12), Dawid Malan (0 off 1), Dev Khanal (14 off 19), Kushal Malla (21 off 18), and Saif Zaib (15 off 7) - all had a flop show today.

The blistering start between D'arcy Short and Sundeep Jora, which saw them smack 17 runs off the first over, has been broken by Rijan Dhakal. He cleans up Short's stumps with a good length delivery for a score of 11. The Australian missed the delivery altogether as he attempted to play across the line.

It has been a decent batting powerplay display by the Lumbini Lions, scoring at nearly 10 per over, but lost 2 wickets as well. Raijan Dhakal struck twice with Sundeep Jora becoming his second scalp for a score of 28.

Skipper Rohit Paudel has steadied the ship for the Lumbini Lions and he is continuing to stitch an important partnership with Dilip Nath. They just need to stick to the crease and keep the board ticking.

Dilip Nath has departed from the crease and he has been replaced by explosive Afghani Gulbadin Naib, who has come out and smashed 19 off 9 at a strike rate of over 200.

Rohit Paudel and Gulbadin Naib have held on to the crease calmly as the equation comes down to 25 off 27. Naib is looking excellent, scoring 26 off 14. Win at sight for the Lumbini Lions in their tournament opener.

That's it. The Lumbini Lions have got off to a winning start in the 2025 Nepal Premier League season. The Lions chased down the target of 143 within 18.3 overs through Gulbadin Naib's quickfire 44* off 24 and skipper Rohit Paudel's crucial 39 off 44.

South African left-arm seamer Ruben Trumplemann has been adjudged man of the match for his spell of 3/23 off 4 overs. He took the important wickets of Dawid Malan (0 off 1), Kushal Malla (21 off 18) and Saif Zaib (15 off 7).

The Pokhara Avengers and Sudur Paschim Royals will feature in match number 6 tomorrow - Friday, November 21 from 3:45PM (IST) onwards.