Mon, Oct 26Match 1 • Kirtipur
LL
SRStarts 4:30 PM NPT
NPL 2026 opens with a final rematch: Lumbini Lions vs Sudurpaschim Royals
Season 3 starts on Monday, 26 October in Kirtipur, with the champions facing the side they beat in last year's final.
The third season of the Nepal Premier League gets under way on Monday, 26 October with the fixture everyone wanted: defending champions Lumbini Lions against Sudurpaschim Royals, the team they beat in the 2025 final.
The opener is a single-header at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, starting at 4:30 PM Nepal time. The ground hosts every match of the season.
A score to settle
Sudurpaschim have now lost the last two NPL finals — to Janakpur Bolts in the inaugural season and to Lumbini last December. That second defeat was one-sided: the Royals were bowled out for 85 and Lumbini knocked the runs off in nine overs.
Both franchises kept their cores for Season 3. Lumbini retained captain Rohit Kumar Paudel along with six others, including Sher Malla, last season's emerging player. Sudurpaschim kept seven as well, led by Dipendra Singh Airee and with Binod Bhandari and Aarif Sheikh among the retentions.
What follows
The league stage runs until 15 November, with eleven double-header days. Every team plays seven league matches, and the top four go through to the playoffs, which start on 17 November. The final is on 21 November.
Follow every NPL match live on CricketCrease — fixtures, scores and the points table are on our NPL page.
