Lumbini All Stars defeated Biratnagar Super Kings by three runs after a thrilling last over battle to register their second consecutive victory in the Nepal T20 League at the Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on Sunday.

Opener and Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batsman Lahiru Milantha starred again for Lumbini as he hammered an unbeaten 80 off 63 balls to guide his side to 157-6.

It was his second half-century in a row. He had smashed 60 off 50 balls in Lumbini’s 67-run opening win against Far West.

The 28-year-old left hander smashed five boundaries and four sixes in a lone stand that saw a harsh morning at the other end of the wicket, with Kushal Bhurtel’s 26 runs making up for the second highest score for favourites Lumbini.

Indian opener and U-19 World Cup winner Unmukt Chand failed to live up to expectation in the second match in a row, departing for just two runs again.

Captain Dipendra Singh Airee added 16 and Bipul Sharma 11 runs, while Anil Sah (6) and Gulsan Jha (4) fell cheaply.

In reply, Biratnagar, who elected to field first after winning the toss, gave Lumbini chills in the final overs but could only manage 154-6 in the stipulated 20 overs.

Biratnagar needed 24 runs off the last 11 balls, with West Indies batsman Andre McCarthy and Bibek Yadav making final push for victory.

Kishore Mahato’s error-strewn nine-ball penultimate over and two straight fours in the first and fourth deliveries from the batsmen duo cut the requirement to six runs from two balls.

Yadav and McCarthy collected two more runs in the long-on as Biratnagar required four off the last ball, with Yadav at the wicket. But Yadav could not prevent his team from suffering a last-ball defeat.

Pakistani all-rounder Hussain Talat top scored for Biratnagar hitting 39 runs facing 24 deliveries.

Rohit Paudel provided the second highest score with 25.

Second straight loss

Pokhara Avengers suffered a second successive defeat after they lost to Janakpur Royals by five wickets.

Opener Aasif Sheikh scored a fifty but his effort all went in vain after Pokhara, sent in to bat first, saw a dramatic batting collapse and were skittled for 138.

Sri Lanka opener Upul Tharanga, who made 44 in the opening match, fell cheaply for two and Pakistani Ameer Hamza departed adding 18.

But Sheikh’s aggressive 39-ball knock that included four fours and two sixes and Siddhant Lohani’s 29—that also featured a mind-blowing four sixes off West Indies bowler and captain Trevon Griffith in the 10 over—had put Pokhara in a commanding position at 94-2.

After Lohani fell to Afghanistani Sharafuddin Ashraf in the 13th over, Pokhara lost six more wickets for just 17 runs and were in big trouble at 111-9. Pratish GC (28) hit three sixes off Mohammad Aadil Alam in the 19th over and smashed another big six in the final over to lift Pokhara from misery.

In the run chase, Janakpur opener Sagar Pun hit 38 runs off 35 balls and Sundeep Jora played an unbeaten 30-ball 40 as Janakpur chased the target at the loss of five wickets.

West Indies batsman Chadwick Walton added 19 runs for Janakpur.

Janakpur’s Kesrick Williams picked three wickets, while Pawan Sarraf, Ashraf and Lalit Rajbanshi pocketed two wickets apiece.

Pokhara’s Afghani bowler Zahir Khan took three wickets.