Karnali Yaks Beat Janakpur Bolts by 19 Runs in NPL

Karnali Yaks beat Janakpur Bolts by 19 runs at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on Tuesday, defending a total of 132 for nine in the third match of the Nepal Premier League season.

Janakpur won the toss and chose to bowl. Ariful Islam top scored for Karnali with 43 runs off 29 balls, hitting four sixes. Pawan Sarraf made 37 off 37 balls, Deepak Dumre added 13 off five balls and Gulshan Kumar Jha made 12. Harmeet Singh led the Janakpur bowling with three wickets for 22 runs. Moeen Ali took two for 19 and Rahul Yadav took two for 15.

Bowlers close the chase

Janakpur needed 133 to win and were bowled out for 113 in 19.3 overs. The chase never built a long stand. Mayan Yadav made 14 off 11 balls at the top, Kusal Perera made six, Anil Kumar Sah made 11 and Trit Raj Das made one, so the middle order came in under pressure. Moeen Ali made 19 off 22 balls and Jimmy Neesham made 15 off 14, and the later runs from Harmeet Singh and Abhisekh Tiwari kept the target in sight without ever taking control of the rate. Karnali shared the wickets across six bowlers, which kept a fresh bowler on as each Janakpur pair settled. Abhisekh Tiwari made 20, Moeen Ali and Harmeet Singh made 19 each, Jimmy Neesham made 15 and Mayan Yadav made 14, but no batter reached the score Ariful had set in the first innings. Hussain Talat took three wickets for 26 runs for Karnali and Unish Bikram Singh took three for 22, with one maiden over in his four overs. Sompal Kami, Nandan Yadav and Yuvraj Khatri took one wicket each.

The result gave Karnali two points from their opening match of the season. It followed the first match of the day at the same ground, where Chitwan Rhinos beat Biratnagar Kings by eight runs.

What comes next

Karnali play Biratnagar Kings on Thursday, October 29 in Kirtipur. Janakpur also play on Thursday, against Kathmandu Gorkhas, and will look for their first win after a chase that lost wickets at regular intervals. Janakpur reached 113 with their last pair together, and their top order will need a longer stand against Kathmandu.

The third season of the league is being played at one venue in Kirtipur, with matches scheduled through November before the playoffs. Tuesday drew two completed matches in one day, and both were decided by the bowling side defending a total under 160.