Lumbini vs Janakpur NPL 2026 Match Result: Lumbini Lions Win by 16 Runs

Lumbini Lions beat Janakpur Bolts by 16 runs in the 14th match of the Nepal Premier League (NPL) 2026 at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur, on Thursday, November 5. Defending champions Lumbini stayed unbeaten in the tournament, posting 149/8 before restricting Janakpur to 133/8 in their 20 overs. Captain Rohit Kumar Paudel top-scored with 38, while D’Arcy Short’s three wickets and Tilak Bhandari’s miserly spell of 2/5 sealed the win for the Lions.

Janakpur Bolts won the toss and elected to field first. The decision looked sound when D’Arcy Short fell first ball, but Paudel’s steady 38 off 31 balls rebuilt the innings, and late blows from Dilip Nath and Ruben Trumpelmann pushed Lumbini to a competitive 149. In reply, Janakpur’s chase never recovered from a middle-order collapse, and despite a late flurry from Harmeet Singh and Aaditya Mahata, the Bolts finished 16 runs short.

Lumbini vs Janakpur Match 14 Score Summary

Team	Score	Overs	Top Scorer	Best Bowler
Lumbini Lions	149/8	20	Rohit Paudel 38 (31)	Bishal Shusling 2/21
Janakpur Bolts	133/8	20	Harmeet Singh 33 (20)	D’Arcy Short 3/23

Result: Lumbini Lions won by 16 runs. Toss: Janakpur Bolts won the toss and elected to field. Venue: Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur. Match: 14th match, Nepal Premier League 2026.

Rohit Paudel Anchors Lumbini Lions to 149/8

Lumbini’s innings began in the worst possible fashion. D’Arcy Short, one of the Lions’ most destructive batters, was dismissed for a first-ball duck, caught by Rahul Yadav off Lalit Rajbanshi. At 0/1, the defending champions needed a calm head, and captain Rohit Kumar Paudel provided exactly that.

Paudel struck 38 off 31 balls, hitting four fours and a six, and held the innings together through the middle overs. He found support from Niroshan Dickwella, who made 27 off 27 balls, and Aasif Sheikh, who contributed 21 off 21 balls.

Dilip Nath then provided the late acceleration Lumbini needed, smashing 21 off just 15 balls with a four and two sixes. Ruben Trumpelmann added 15 off 8 balls with two sixes before being run out, while Shamim Hossain chipped in with 13 off 13 balls and Sundeep Jora blazed 9 off 4 balls. Sher Malla finished unbeaten on 0, and Tilak Bhandari and Kishore Mahato did not bat as Lumbini closed on 149/8 from their 20 overs.

Lumbini Lions Batter	Runs	Balls	Fours	Sixes
Rohit Kumar Paudel (c)	38	31	4	1
Niroshan Dickwella	27	27	2	1
Dilip Nath	21	15	1	2
Aasif Sheikh	21	21	2	1
Ruben Trumpelmann	15	8	0	2
Shamim Hossain	13	13	0	1
Sundeep Jora	9	4	2	0

Janakpur Bolts Bowling Keeps Lumbini in Check

Janakpur’s bowlers shared the wickets around, and for much of the innings they kept Lumbini below the 150-run mark they eventually reached. Bishal Shusling was the pick of the attack with 2/21 from his four overs at an economy of 5.25, while Rahul Yadav struck twice in just two overs, finishing with 2/17.

Captain Harmeet Singh took 1/25 from four overs, Lalit Rajbanshi claimed the early wicket of Short and finished with 1/31, and Abhisekh Tiwari chipped in with 1/9 from his only over. Saif Hassan bowled a maiden in his four overs for 31 runs without a wicket. It was a disciplined collective effort, but the total of 149 proved just enough on a surface where strokeplay was never easy.

Janakpur Bolts Chase Falls 16 Runs Short at 133/8

Chasing 150, Janakpur needed a solid start, but Lumbini’s bowlers struck early and often. Trit Raj Das made 18 off 18 balls before falling to D’Arcy Short, and Mohammad Parvez Hossain managed just 1 off 5 balls as Janakpur slipped into trouble in the powerplay.

Saif Hassan steadied the chase with 28 off 25 balls, hitting four fours, but wickets kept falling around him. Bishal Shusling made 4, wicketkeeper Anil Sah just 1, James Neesham 9 off 11 balls, and Abhisekh Tiwari fell for a duck as Janakpur collapsed to 88/7, needing 62 runs from the final 19 balls.

Captain Harmeet Singh then gave the Bolts a flicker of hope, blasting 33 off 20 balls with three sixes, and Aaditya Mahata finished unbeaten on 30 off 24 balls with four sixes of his own. But the mountain was too steep: Janakpur closed on 133/8, with Lalit Rajbanshi unbeaten on 2, falling 16 runs short of the target.

Janakpur Bolts Batter	Runs	Balls	Fours	Sixes
Harmeet Singh (c)	33	20	0	3
Aaditya Mahata*	30	24	0	4
Saif Hassan	28	25	4	0
Trit Raj Das	18	18	1	0
James Neesham	9	11	1	0

D’Arcy Short and Tilak Bhandari Turn the Match for Lumbini

Short made amends for his first-ball duck with the ball, taking 3/23 from his four overs at an economy of 5.75 to break the back of Janakpur’s chase. His wickets included Das, Saif Hassan and Tiwari, and he removed the set batters just when Janakpur threatened to build partnerships.

Tilak Bhandari was even more economical, returning 2/5 from two overs at just 2.50 runs per over, dismissing Shusling and Anil Sah in quick succession. Sher Malla took 2/29, including the key wicket of Neesham and the big scalp of Harmeet Singh, while Trumpelmann claimed 1/30. Captain Paudel bowled four tight overs for 18 runs without a wicket. It was a complete bowling performance from the Lions, with every bowler playing a part in defending a modest total.

Key Turning Points in the Lumbini vs Janakpur NPL 2026 Clash

The first turning point came at the very start of the match, when Lalit Rajbanshi removed D’Arcy Short first ball. Instead of collapsing, Lumbini rebuilt through Paudel, and the captain’s 38 ensured the early wicket did not define the innings.

The second came in the middle of Janakpur’s chase. From a position where Saif Hassan was holding the innings together, Lumbini’s bowlers struck in a cluster — Shusling, Anil Sah, Neesham and Tiwari all fell cheaply — and the Bolts crashed to 88/7 with 62 still needed from 19 balls. No team wins many T20s from there.

The result also carried a sense of revenge for Lumbini. Janakpur had beaten them by just one run in the same fixture last season, and the Lions will be pleased to have turned the tables in the 2026 edition. It was a far cry from Biratnagar’s two-run win over Janakpur earlier in the season, where the Bolts had fallen agonisingly short in a last-over finish — this time, the margin was more comfortable for the bowling side.

What the Result Means for the NPL 2026 Points Table

The win keeps Lumbini Lions unbeaten in NPL 2026 and moves them to seven points from four matches, with three wins and a no-result so far. Their bowling attack — which had already restricted Pokhara to just 97 in their eight-wicket win over Pokhara — is proving to be one of the most reliable units in the tournament.

For Janakpur Bolts, the defeat is a setback. They stay on four points from five matches, with two wins and three defeats, and their playoff push now needs a strong run in the remaining league games. The Bolts have been competitive in every match — losing by two runs to Biratnagar and now by 16 to Lumbini — but close defeats do not earn points, and their batting will need to find more consistency at the top of the order.

What’s Next in NPL 2026

The NPL 2026 action continues later on Thursday with the second match of the day, Kathmandu Gorkhas vs Biratnagar Kings at 5:00 PM NPT at the same Kirtipur venue. Both teams will be watching the points table closely after Lumbini’s win reshaped the standings.

Lumbini Lions will look to extend their unbeaten run when they return to action, while Janakpur Bolts must regroup quickly and find a win to keep their campaign alive. For the full schedule, timings and venues, see our NPL 2026 today match guide, updated daily through the tournament.

Note: No official Player of the Match was confirmed in the available scorecards at the time of publication. D’Arcy Short’s 3/23 with the ball was the standout individual performance of the match. No prediction article existed for this individual fixture on cricfacts.com — the site covered it through the NPL today-match guide — so no prediction pick applies.