Lumbini Lions beat Chitwan Rhinos by 6 wickets in NPL 2025 match 5
Gulbadin Naib and Rohit Paudel stitch match winning partnership
Lions jump to second spot in the points table
Lumbini Lions prevailed over the Chitwan Rhinos to kick-start their Nepal Premier League 2025 campaign in a low-scoring affair on Thursday, November 20 at the Tribhuvan cricket stadium in Kirtipur.
In a stadium absolutely packed with people, Chitwan batted first after losing the toss. They produced a dismal batting performance in a tough batting surface with Ravi Bopara leading the charge once again with a consecutive half-century.
Opener Dawid Malan was sent back for a golden duck in the very first over by Ruben Trumplemann. Abhishesh Gautam made Deepak Bohara (10 off 12) and Dev Khanal (14 off 19) his only two wickets of the 2nd innings.
Skipper Kushal Malla and (21 off 18) and Saif Zaib (15 off 7) later became Trumplemann's other two wickets. Ravi Bopara was the standout performer with his 66 off 55 and that helped the Rhinos post 142 on the board.
In response, D'arcy Short gave Lumbini a fiery start but was reduced for 11 off 6 in just the 2nd over. His partner Sundeep Jora added 13 with him to add 24 on the board off 2.
The latter then had a brief partnership with Rohit Paudel before getting out for 28 off 18. The Lions skipper then stitched a match-winning 60-run stand with Gulbadin Naib, who smashed 44 off 24 at a strike rate of over 180.
Rohit Paudel was out for 39 off 44, but the game was almost done by then. JJ Smit and Naib then steered the Lumbini Lions towards a commanding 6-wicket victory.
Ruben Trumplemann was adjudged man of the match for his spell of 3/23. The victory helped Lumbini jump to 2nd in the points table and they will face Karnali Yaks in their next fixture of the Nepal Premier League 2025.
Chitwan Rhino Vs Lumbini Lions, Nepal Premier League 2025: Toss Update
Lumbini Lions captain Rohit Paudel won the toss and chose to bowl first.
Chitwan Rhino Vs Lumbini Lions, Nepal Premier League 2025: Playing XIs
Chitwan Rhinos: 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).
Lumbini Lions: Rohit Paudel (C), Sundeep Jora, JJ Smit (O), Gulbadin Naib (O), D'Arcy Short (O), Ruben Trumpelman (O), Sameer Ali (WK), Dilip Nath, Sher Malla, Abhishesh Gautam and Dinesh Adhikari.
Chitwan Rhino Vs Lumbini Lions, Nepal Premier League 2025: Live Streaming
The Nepal Premier League 2025 matches will be live-streamed on the JioHotstar app/website as well as the Star Sports Network on Television screens.
