The 2024 Nepal Premier League, also known as Siddhartha Bank NPL 2024 for sponsorship reasons, was the inaugural season of the Nepal Premier League, a franchise Twenty20 cricket league in Nepal.
The tournament featured eight teams competing in 32 matches from 30 November to 21 December 2024 (15 Mangsir to 6 Poush 2081 BS).
The final was held in Kirtipur on 21 December and saw Janakpur Bolts defeating Sudurpaschim Royals by 5 wickets to win the first title. Lahiru Milantha of Janakpur Bolts was awarded the man of the match award for his innings of 87 runs from 49 balls. Saif Zaib of the Sudurpaschim Royals was named player of the tournament.
Auctions and personnel signings The auctions for team ownership was held on September 5, 2024. Pokhara was the most expensive team, costing over NPR 3,57,00,000. For the inaugural NPL season, each team had a salary cap of for domestic auction. Eight Marquee players were listed form draw on 14 September 2024. Sandeep Lamichhane, Kushal Malla, Aasif Sheikh, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Rohit Paudel, Kushal Bhurtel and Dipendra Singh Airee were classified as Marquee players.
The auction was conducted on 6 October 2024 with Aarif Sheikh, Anil Sah, Bhim Sharki, Bibek Yadav, Gulsan Jha, Lalit Rajbanshi, Lokesh Bam, Pratis GC, Sagar Dhakal, Shahab Alam, Surya Tamang and Sundeep Jora winning the highest bid of . The signing of foreign players was signed based on the franchise's interest and budget.
Squads The player auction took place on 6 October 2024.
+TeamsHead coachPlaying squads Biratnagar KingsKevin O'Brien Sandeep Lamichhane (c), Basir Ahamad, Ismat Alam, Lokesh Bam (wk), Dipak Bohara, Subash Bhandari, Naren Bhatta, Scott Edwards, Pratish GC, Mrinal Gurung, Martin Guptill, Nicholas Kirton, Aqib Ilyas, Anil Kharel, Kamal Khatri, Jitendra Mukhiya, Rajesh Pulami, Chris SoleChitwan Rhinos Umesh Patwal Kushal Malla (c), Kamal Singh Airee, Deepak Bohara, Rijan Dhakal, Basil Hameed, Marchant de Lange, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Hassan Eisakhil, Santosh Karki, Luc Benkenstein, Gautam KC, Sallahuddin Khan, Ranjit Kumar, Bipin Rawal (wk), Ravi Bopara, Amar Routela, Nar Sarki, Dipesh Shrestha, Sohail Tanveer, Sharad VesawkarJanakpur BoltsPubudu Dassanayake Anil Sah (c, wk), Hemant Dhami, Shubh Kansakar, Kishore Mahato, Sher Malla, Lahiru Milantha (wk), Ben Mike, Mohammad Mohsin, James Neesham, Sohaib Maqsood, Lalit Rajbanshi, Rupesh Singh, Aasif Sheikh (wk), Bishal Shusling, Tul Thapa, Harsh Thaker, Aakash Tripathi, Joshua Tromp, Arniko YadavKarnali YaksGyanendra Malla Sompal Kami (c), Will Bosisto, Mousom Dhakal, Shikhar Dhawan, Deepak Dumre, Rit Gautam, Arjun Gharti (wk), Babar Hayat, Gulshan Jha, Dev Khanal, Bhuvan Karki, Jaykishan Kolsawala, Zeeshan Maqsood, Dipendra Rawat, Bipin Sharma, Unish Singh, Hussain Talat, Nandan Yadav, Chadwick Walton (wk)Kathmandu Gurkhas Basanta Shahi Karan KC (c), Shahab Alam, Dan Douthwaite, Gerhard Erasmus, Stephen Eskinazi, Dipesh Kandel, Krishna Karki, Krish Karki, Rashid Khan, Bibek KC, Michael Levitt, Sumit Maharjan, Shankar Rana, Raju Rijal (wk), Bhim Sharki, Pratik Shrestha, Nathan Sowter Lumbini Lions Nandan Phadnis Rohit Paudel (c), Bikash Aagri, Dinesh Adhikari, Tilak Bhandari, Ben Cutting, Unmukt Chand, Abhishesh Gautam, Ashutosh Ghiraiya, Durgesh Gupta, Sundeep Jora, Aarif Khan, Tom Moores (wk), Arjun Saud (wk), Ramon Simmonds, Surya Tamang, Bibek Yadav, Saad Bin ZafarPokhara Avengers Rajiv Kumar Kushal Bhurtel (c), Sudip Aryal, Aakash Chand, Matt Critchley, Trit Raj Das, Sagar Dhakal, Sunam Gautam, Andries Gous (wk), Aakarshit Gomel, Amrit Gurung, Narayan Joshi, Dinesh Kharel, Bipin Khatri, Michael Leask, Bas de Leede, Zen Malik, Dilip Nath (wk), Anderson Phillip, Raymon Reifer, Harishankar Shah, Kiran Thagunna Sudurpaschim RoyalsJagat Tamata Dipendra Singh Airee (c), Binod Bhandari (wk), Bhoj Raj Bhatta, Dilpreet Bajwa, Abinash Bohara, Khadak Bohora, Naresh Budhayer, Basant Khatri, Arjun Kumal, Scott Kuggeleijn, Brandon McMullen, Rohan Mustafa, Ishan Pandey, Naren Saud, Aarif Sheikh, Amit Shrestha, Harmeet Singh, Saif Zaib
Venue
All matches were played at Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground at Kirtipur in Kathmandu.
Practice matches Before the start of league stage four practice matches were played at Mulpani Cricket Ground.
Teams and standings Points table
(C) = Eventual champion; (R) = Runner-up.</onlyinclude>
Win-loss table Below is a summary of results for each team's seven regular season matches, plus finals where applicable, in chronological order. A team's opponent for any given match is listed above the margin of victory/defeat. TeamLeague stagePlay-offs12345 67Biratnagar Kings (BK)JB8 wicketsSR90 runsLL2 wicketsKY7 runsPASuper OverCR51 runsKGXXXX6thChitwan Rhinos (CR)KGPA87 runsKY6 wicketsSR33 runsLL33 runsBK51 runsJB32 runsKY21 runsXXX3rd()Janakpur Bolts (JB)BKKY8 wicketsPA7 wicketsLL1 runSR72 runsKGCR32 runs→SR8 wicketsKYSR2nd()Karnali Yaks (KY)JB8 wicketsKG3 wicketCR6 wicketsBK7 runsPA7 wicketsLL5 runsSR6 wicketsCRXJB2 wicketsX4th()Kathmandu Gurkhas (KG)CR5 wicketsKY3 wicketsSR73 runsLL18 runsJB5 wicketsPABK1 wicketXXXX5thLumbini Lions (LL)BK2 wicketsPASR45 runsJB1 runCR33 runsKG18 runsKY5 runsXXXX8thPokhara Avengers (PA)CR87 runsJB7 wicketsLLKYBKKG6 wicketsSR5 runsXXXX7thSudurpaschim Royals (SR)BK90 runsKG73 runsLL45 runsCR33 runsJB72 runsPA5 runsKY→JB→JB5 wickets1st() Team's results→ Won Tied Lost
Match summary
League stage The fixture was released on 18 November 2024.
Playoffs The playoffs were held from 18 to 21 December 2024.
Bracket
Eliminator
Qualifier 1
Qualifier 2
Final
The 2024 Nepal Premier League final was played on 21 December 2024 at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur. Sudurpaschim Royals qualified for the finals after their win in Qualifier 1. They competed with Janakpur Bolts, who qualified for the finals after their win in Qualifier 2.
After winning the toss, Sudurpaschim Royals elected to bat first and managed to score 184 runs in 20 overs with a loss of 9 wickets. The Janakpur Bolts chased the target in 19.2 overs and won the match by five wickets, thus winning their first NPL title. JB player Lahiru Milantha was named as the player of the match for scoring 87 runs. Saif Zaib (SR) was named as the player of the season for scoring 275 runs and taking 12 wickets throughout the tournament.
Road to the final Sudurpaschim Royals had a successful league stage with only 1 loss against Chitwan Rhinos. They won the rest 6 matches garnering a total of 12 points finishing atop the league table. They defeated Janakpur Bolts in Qualifier 1 to gain their place in the Final.
Janakpur Bolts finished second in the league table winning 5 games and losing 2 games against Sudurpaschim Royals and Chitwan Rhinos to end with a total of 10 points. They again lost the Qualifier 1 to Sudurpaschim Royals and had to defeat Karnali Yaks in Qualifier 2 for a place in the Final. Source: ESPNcricinfo
vsLeague StageOpponentScorecardResultPointsMatch No.OpponentScorecardResultPointsBiratnagar Kings3 December 2024Won2 1Biratnagar Kings30 November 2024Won2Kathmandu Gurkhas5 December 2024Won4 2Karnali Yaks2 December 2024Won4Lumbini Lions7 December 2024Won6 3Pokhara Avengers5 December 2024Won6Chitwan Rhinos8 December 2024Lost6 4Lumbini Lions8 December 2024Won8Janakpur Bolts11 December 2024Won8 5Sudurpaschim Royals11 December 2024Lost8Pokhara Avengers15 December 2024Won10 6Kathmandu Gurkhas12 December 2024Won10Karnali Yaks16 December 2024Won12 7Chitwan Rhinos14 December 2024Lost10Playoff stageOpponentScorecardResultOpponentScorecardResultJanakpur Bolts18 December 2024Won Sudurpaschim Royals18 December 2024Lost Qualified for the finals Karnali Yaks19 December 2024Won 2024 Nepal Premier League final
Match officials On-field umpires: Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg) and Rashid Riaz (Pak) Third umpire: Buddhi Pradhan (Nep) Reserve umpire: Sanjay Sigdel (Nep) Match referee: Manu Nayyar (Ind) Toss: Sudurpaschim Royals won the toss and elected to bat.
Summary
Sudurpaschim Royals innings Sudurpaschim Royals (SR) won the toss and elected to bat. The team had early start. Both opening batters, Saif Zaib and Binod Bhandari smashed bolwer till first 10 overs. Saif Zaib was the first to fall, bowled by Nepalese fast bowler Kishore Mahato for 69 runs in the twelfth over. Nepalese batter Binod Bhandari followed soon after, clean bowled for 41 runs off Left-arm spiner Lalit Rajbanshi's bowling. SR's top order continued to falter, with Harmeet Singh scoring 14 runs before being caught off Mohsin's bowling, leaving SR at 143 for the loss of 3 wickets in the fifteenth over.
Scottish Brandon McMullen tried to stabilize the innings, scoring 14 runs off 12 balls, but he too fell, bowled off Kiwi' all-rounder James Neesham's bowling. Captain Dipendra Singh Airee added 9 runs before being dismissed by spiner Mohammad Mohsin, while Kiwi Scott Kuggeleijn contributed 13 runs before also falling to Mahato.Ishan Pandey, managed 6 runs off 2 balls, including one four, but his effort was cut short when he was runout off Mohsin. Naresh Budayair managed 8 runs, including one six, before being caught pacer Mahato's bowling. Aarif Sheikh and Naren Saud did not add much, with Sheikh being caught to leg spinner Mohsin for 1 and Saud remaining not out on 1.
JB's bowling attack was led by Kishore Mahato, who claimed 3 wickets for 25 runs. Mohammad Mohsin took 3 wickets for 40 runs. Lalit Rajbanshi took 1 wicket for just 15 runs with lowest economy, while James Neesham matched Rajbanshi with 1 wickets for 44 runs. Harsh Thaker and Sher Malla unabled to picke up a wicket, conceding 33 and 25 runs respectively. SR's innings included 8 extras, with their overall run rate of 9.2 at the end.
Janakpur Bolts innings Janakpur Bolts (JB) had a good start to the chase and both the openers Lahiru Milantha and Aasif Sheikh were looking in great form. Sheikh scored a quick 33 off 19 balls before being caught by Brandon McMullen off Saif Zaib' bowling in the seventh over. Mohammad Mohsin joined Milantha, but unable to stood on crease as he was dismissed cheaply by Ishan Pandey. This brought Harsh Thaker to the crease, who, alongside opener Milantha, took control of the chase. Milantha scored 87 runs off 49 balls, including nine fours and four sixes before eventually being dismissed in the sixteenth over, caught and bowled by Scott Kuggeleijn. Later, James Neesham and Thaker tried to stabilize the innings and took the score to 176 but as the run rate went down, Neesham while trying to score a boundary was dismissed by captain Dipendra Singh Airee on 4. Soon, Aakash Tripathi were also cheaply dismissed by Airee through runout. Thaker continued his innings after the loss of Tripathi, reaching 30 off 24 balls. Mayan Yadav, joined him at the crease and contributed 2 off 3 balls, helping reach the target with 4 balls to spare.
American spinner Harmeet Singh Baddhan conceded 32 runs in his 4 overs, while Abinash Bohara gave away 19 runs in his 2 overs. Overseas player Saif Zaib and Scott Kuggeleijn were managed to pick up the wicket of Aasif and Milantha respectively, finishing with figures of 1 wicket for 14 and 43 in 3 overs. Dipendra Singh Airee and Ishan Pandey were the other two wicket-taker, claiming Mohsin's and Neesham wicket respectively and Airee ending with figures of 1 wicket for 40 runs in his 4 overs and Pandey with 1 wicket for 19 runs in his 2 overs.
Janakpur Bolts ended with a decisive victory by 5 wickets securing their first NPL title.
Scorecard Source: ESPNcricinfo
1st innings
|colspan="4"| Extras 8 (b 1, lb 1, w 6) Total 184/9 (20 overs) |12 |8 | 9.2 RR