Nepal T20 League: Lumbini All Stars Beat Biratnagar Super Kings In A Thriller To Maintain Winning Start

Lumbini All Stars continued their winning start in the Nepal T20 League 2022 as they beat Biratnagar Super Kings by 3 runs in a thriller. The All Stars and Super Kings were up against each other in the first match of the day on Sunday (December 25) and the fans could not have asked for a better contest.

The game went right down to the wire before All Stars held their nerves to register their second win in as many games while Biratnagar Super Kings had to open their account with a defeat.

Lumbini All Stars innings:

Lumbini All Stars were asked to bat first after Biratnagar Super Kings skipper Andre McCarthy won the toss and elected to bowl first. The All Stars were off to a poor start once again as Unmukt Chand failed to get going for the second match in a row.

The former India U19 batsman was out for just 2 as Hussain Talat gave his side a solid start with the ball. But before the bowling team could make further inroads in the game, in-form opener Lahiru Milantha and Kushal Bhurtel steadied the ship with a 55-run stand.

Shahab Alam broke the stand when he had Bhurtel stumped for 26. Milantha and skipper Dipendra Singh Airee then took the score past the 100-run mark before the latter was run out for 16. From thereon, the All-Stars kept losing wickets at regular intervals but Milantha held firm from his end.

He remained unbeaten and scored 80 off 63 balls with the help of 5 fours and 4 sixes. Milantha had scored a fifty in the previous match too. Thanks to his unbeaten fifty, the All-Stars finished their innings on 157 for 6.

NepalT20
Match 3 – Biratnagar Super Kings vs Lumbini All Stars

Player of the Match: Lahiru Milantha (LAS)#NepalT20 pic.twitter.com/90D8rzE9qV

— CAN (@CricketNep) December 25, 2022

Biratnagar Super Kings innings:

Chasing 158 to open their campaign with a win, Biratnagar Super Kings fell short by 3 runs as they finished on 154 for 6. The Super Kings kept losing wickets at crucial junctures and were reeling at 87 for 4 at one stage.

In the end, the Super Kings had to score 25 runs in the final two overs with skipper McCarthy and Bibek Yadav in the middle. The two joined hands in the middle after Prithu Baskota was dismissed on the second ball of the 19th over.

The first two balls faced by Yadav were wides before he conceded three dots in a row. And just when All Stars had seemingly taken charge of the game, Yadav finished the over with a six to bring his team into the game.

NepalT20
Match 3 – Biratnagar Super Kings vs Lumbini All Stars#NepalT20 pic.twitter.com/24K8jHRiyC

— CAN (@CricketNep) December 25, 2022

With 16 runs needed from the final over, McCarthy started the final over by smashing Pat Brown’s first ball for a four. Brown then bowled a dot before conceding a wide and a single. Yadav hit the fourth ball for a four to bring down the equation to 6 runs from the final two balls.

On the fifth ball, he took a double as Super Kings needed 4 runs from the last ball. Brown, however, held his nerve and bowled a dot ball to propel his team to a thrilling win.

Nepal T20 League Points Table: