Kathmandu, November 2
Karnali Yaks have set Kathmandu Gorkhas a target of 181 runs in the first match of Monday’s Nepal Premier League (NPL) fixtures.
Batting first after losing the toss at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, Karnali scored 180 for six in 20 overs.
Opener Ariful Islam was Karnali’s top scorer with 44 runs. He faced 22 balls and hit five fours and three sixes. Hussain Talat added 40 off 30 balls, including one four and two sixes.
Pawan Sarraf remained unbeaten on 30 off 23 balls, including two sixes. Gulshan Jha contributed 20 runs off 12 balls, hitting two sixes.
Ariful opened the innings with Jishan Alam, another Bangladeshi player in the Karnali squad. Jishan, who arrived in Nepal only on Sunday, played his first match for the team. He was dismissed for seven runs with the team score at 20.
Ariful and Mark Watt then put on 46 runs for the second wicket.
Karnali slipped to 78 for four after losing Ariful, Deepak Dumre and Watt within 12 runs. Sarraf and Talat then steadied the innings with a half-century stand for the fifth wicket. Talat was dismissed hit-wicket off the last ball of the 17th over, after sharing a crucial 65-run partnership with Sarraf.
Sarraf and Gulshan Jha then added 28 runs off 16 balls.
For Kathmandu, captain Karan KC took two wickets. Shahab Alam, Jahandad Khan, Dev Shah and Santosh Yadav took one wicket each.
