Lumbini Beat Janakpur by 16 Runs in NPL Match 14

Lumbini Lions stayed unbeaten in NPL Season 3, defending 149 for 8 to beat Janakpur Bolts by 16 runs in Match 14 at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on Thursday, November 5.

Paudel Steadies Lumbini After a First-Ball Blow

Janakpur Bolts won the toss and sent Lumbini Lions in at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, and it paid off on the very first ball, when Lalit Rajbanshi had D'Arcy Short caught by Rahul Yadav without scoring. From there, though, Lumbini rebuilt in the patient, unspectacular way that has defined their title defence. Aasif Sheikh made 21 from 21 balls and Niroshan Dickwella 27 from 27, and captain Rohit Paudel held the innings together with 38 from 31 balls, the highest score of the match, striking four fours and a six.

Dilip Nath added a brisk 21 from 15 balls, Shamim Hossain 13 from 13, and Ruben Trumpelmann 15 from eight before he was run out off the final ball of the innings. Lumbini closed on 149 for eight, built on shared contributions rather than one big innings — no Lion passed 40, yet six batters reached double figures. Janakpur's bowling was disciplined without ever taking control: Bishal Shusling took two for 21, Rahul Yadav two for 17, and Harmeet Singh, Lalit Rajbanshi and Abhisekh Tiwari one wicket each. The total looked short of par on a ground where Biratnagar had posted 174 two days earlier, and Janakpur will have walked off at the interval believing the chase was theirs to win.

Short and Bhandari Break the Janakpur Chase

The chase never found its rhythm. Trit Raj Das made 18 from 18 balls before Short bowled him, and Short then trapped Saif Hassan leg before for 28 from 25, the second-highest score of the Janakpur innings. Tilak Bhandari was the quiet destroyer, taking two wickets for five runs in two overs — Bishal Shusling caught by Sundeep Jora for four and Anil Sah bowled for one — while Sher Malla removed James Neesham, stumped by Dickwella for nine, and then bowled the Janakpur captain Harmeet Singh for 33.

At 65 for seven after 12.5 overs, the game looked done. Harmeet's 33 from 20 balls, with three sixes, and Aaditya Mahata's unbeaten 30 from 24, with four sixes, gave the chase a late pulse, and the pair's stand dragged Janakpur back into the contest before Malla ended it by bowling Harmeet. Mahata kept swinging to the end, but with Lalit Rajbanshi unbeaten on two at the other end, Janakpur closed on 133 for eight — 16 runs short, with the chase lasting the full 20 overs. Short finished with three for 23 from four overs, Malla two for 29 and Tilak Bhandari two for five, while Trumpelmann took one for 30 and Paudel's four overs cost only 18.

What the Win Says About the Champions

The result says more about Lumbini than the margin suggests. This was not a day for individual brilliance: Paudel's 38 was the top score of the match, and no Lion passed 40, yet the champions still found 16 runs more than a side packed with international names. That is the pattern of their season: in the opener, Sher Malla's three for 11 set up the win over Sudurpaschim; in Match 13, Trumpelmann's three for 16 did the same against Pokhara; here it was Short's three for 23 and Bhandari's two for five. Different heroes, same outcome — and that depth is why Lumbini sit top of the points table, the only unbeaten side left.

For Janakpur, the defeat is their second in a row, after the two-run loss to Biratnagar on Tuesday, and it exposes the same fault line: a top order leaving too much to the lower middle order. Neesham made nine, Anil Sah one and Parvez Hossain one, and without Moeen Ali, who has left the squad for the Abu Dhabi T10, the Bolts leaned on Harmeet and Mahata to rescue the chase. The win also settles a small piece of history between these sides. Janakpur won their first meeting by a single run in 2024; Lumbini took the 2025 meeting by four wickets, and now they have beaten the Bolts again — a reminder that the champions have learned to win the close ones against this opponent.

Lumbini Stay Top as Janakpur Slip to Fourth

The win takes Lumbini to seven points from four matches, and they stay top of the table with three league games still to play. Janakpur stay on four points from five matches and slip to fourth, with two league games left to rescue their campaign — a thin margin for a side that began the season among the favourites, and a reminder that Tuesday's two-run defeat to Biratnagar has now cost them twice over. Their remaining fixtures are must-win games in all but name.

Thursday's action is not over: Biratnagar Kings meet Kathmandu Gorkhas in the evening game, Match 15, later on Thursday, a fixture that could reshape the top of the table before the weekend. Lumbini, meanwhile, can watch from the top — unbeaten, with the chasing pack now needing favours as well as wins.