Both Pokhara Avengers and Karnali Yaks have achieved their first victory in Nepal Premier League (NPL) cricket. On Friday, Pokhara defeated Lumbini Lions by 10 wickets and Karnali defeated Chitwan Rhinos by 6 wickets.

Both Pokhara and Karnali got their first win in the third game. This means that Lumbini is now the only team that has not tasted victory in the NPL. After Chitwan's defeat to Karnali, Janakpur Bolts and Sudurpaschim Royals are the only unbeaten teams in the tournament. Chitwan, who won the first two games, suffered a defeat in the third game. 

A rare 10-wicket win

After Andries Gaus scored a century and shared a record partnership with Dinesh Kharel, Pokhara won a rare 10-wicket win. Pokhara completed the target of 171 runs by scoring 176 runs in 16.5 overs. This is also the largest partnership made in the ongoing NPL. Gauss hit 12 fours and 5 sixes in 55 balls and scored 104 unbeaten runs.

He completed his half-century in 20 balls and his century in 54 balls at the Trivi Maidan in Kirtipur. Dinesh scored an unbeaten 61 off 46 balls. He won the match by hitting Surya Tamang for a six when the score was tied. Dinesh hit the same 4 fours and a six. Living in New Zealand, he completed his half-century in 39 balls. 

Pokhara started fast by scoring 29 runs in the first two overs. After adding 80 runs in the power play, the victory became easy for Pokhara. It was the most runs scored in the NPL in the power play. Pokhara added 100 runs in 8.1 overs and 150 runs in 14.3 overs to make the victory a mere formality. 

Lumbini Lions, who won the toss and elected to bat, scored 170 runs after losing 5 wickets in the scheduled 20 overs. Captain Rohit Paudel scored 95 runs off 59 balls. On the last ball of the innings, Rohit was run out when Vivek Yadav completed 2 runs and ran to get the third run. Rohit hit 10 fours and 4 sixes. Rohit and Term Murs had a partnership of 110 runs in 77 balls. Moors, who was run out in the last ball of the 19th over, scored 45 runs by hitting 2 fours and a six in 38 balls. 

Lumbini's opening pair Ashutosh Ghirohia and Unmukt Chand were both dismissed for a wicket. Both were dismissed by Bipin Khatri. Sandeep Zora scored 18 runs off 15 balls. Vipin, who came with the new ball, took 2 wickets with 18 runs in 3 overs. Matt Critchley took the next wicket. 

Relief to Karnali 

Karnali Yax came close to victory after the experienced innings played by overseas players Shikhar Dhawan and Chadwick Walton. But the victory of Karnali was not easy. Especially after Pakistani bowler Sohail Tanvir gave only 2 runs in the 19th over, Karnali needed 9 runs in the last over to win.

Arjun Gharti scored 6 runs in the first three balls of Region Dhakal making 2-2. He was run out for 11 runs in the fourth ball. With 3 runs needed in the last 2 balls, Jisan Maqsood hit a boundary and won Karnali.

After Dhawan scored 45 runs in 41 balls and Walton scored 30 runs in 19 balls, Yaks completed the target of 131 runs with 1 ball to spare. Dhawan, who hit 4 fours and 1 six, was cut and bowled by Yan Nicholas Lofty Eaton. Walton hit 3 sixes. Dhawan added 53 runs in 10 overs with Dev Khanal for the first wicket and 51 runs in 33 balls with Walton for the second wicket.

Earlier, although English batsman Ravi Bopara scored a half-century, Chitwan Rhinos who came into bat after losing the toss could only score 130 runs after losing 7 wickets in the scheduled 20 overs. Bopara scored an unbeaten 59 off 40 balls. He completed his half-century by hitting Karnali captain Sompal Kami for two consecutive fours in the 18th over. He hit a total of 7 fours and 1 six. Another veteran Sharad Bheshavkar, who hit a four in the last ball of the innings, remained unbeaten by scoring 6 runs in 3 balls.