Cricket
Pokhara Avengers ended their four-match losing start to the 2026 Nepal Premier League with a 63-run victory over Karnali Yaks at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on Monday, November 9. The match began at 12:30 pm Nepal time. Pokhara won the toss, chose to bat and made 217 for three from 20 overs before bowling Karnali out for 154 in 18.3 overs. The Kathmandu Post published the completed result on November 9 and updated its report at 4:27 pm NPT, separating the final score from the earlier fixture preview that had been circulated before play.
Canadian opener Yuvraaj Samra produced the decisive innings, scoring 102 from 48 balls with 10 fours and six sixes. CricNepal reports that he reached his hundred from 45 deliveries before Mark Watt dismissed him in the 16th over. Samra and Kushal Bhurtel added 136 runs for the second wicket from 68 balls after Mahedi Hasan had fallen for five. Bhurtel made 62 from 39 deliveries, with the completed scorecard listing seven sixes in his innings. Their partnership moved Pokhara from a cautious start to a position from which a total above 200 became realistic.
The acceleration continued after Samra departed. Captain Chamika Karunaratne finished unbeaten on 35 from 11 balls, hitting three fours and three sixes, while Sunny BK remained not out on three. Pokhara closed on 217 for three, the first team total above 200 in this season’s competition. Sompal Kami was Karnali’s most effective bowler with two wickets for 24 runs from four overs, and Watt took the other wicket. The scale of the final total left Karnali requiring 10.9 runs per over from the start of their chase.
Karnali lost wickets regularly and could not build a partnership comparable to the Samra-Bhurtel stand. Pawan Sarraf top-scored with 32 from 31 balls. Ariful Islam made 24 from 13, Deepak Dumre struck 22 from seven, and captain Sompal Kami scored 21. Sompal’s dismissal came under the obstructing-the-field law after the umpires referred the incident to the third umpire. OnlineKhabar and The Kathmandu Post both report the unusual dismissal, but it was one moment within a chase that had already been placed under heavy pressure by the target.
Mahedi Hasan led Pokhara’s bowling with three wickets for 24 runs from four overs. Dhananjaya Lakshan, Kushal Bhurtel and Bipin Khatri took two wickets each as Karnali were dismissed with nine balls unused. The 63-run margin is calculated directly from Pokhara’s 217 and Karnali’s 154. The result gave Pokhara their first points after four consecutive defeats, while Nepal News reported that Karnali remained on four points after five matches and had now lost three in succession.
Samra’s hundred also carried tournament significance. The Kathmandu Post identifies it as the first individual century of the current NPL season and the fourth century in the league’s history. CricNepal describes it as the first NPL hundred to count toward official T20 career statistics following the third edition’s recognition under that classification. Earlier NPL centuries were scored by Andries Gous and Adam Rossington for Pokhara and by Watt for Karnali. Three of the competition’s four hundreds have therefore been made by Pokhara players.
As analysis, Pokhara’s first win changes the mood around their campaign but does not by itself settle the playoff race. Their batting showed a combination that had been missing during the opening defeats: a long, high-tempo innings from Samra, strong support from Bhurtel and a rapid finish from Karunaratne. Karnali’s third consecutive loss increases the pressure on their remaining league matches.
The verified supporter takeaway is a 63-run Pokhara victory, a first win after four losses, and a landmark 102 from Samra. The later Chitwan Rhinos versus Kathmandu Gurkhas match began at 5:00 pm NPT and is a separate fixture; no final result from that game is included here.
Source publication date: 2026-11-09; The Kathmandu Post report updated at 4:27 pm NPT. Event or reporting period: 2026-11-09.
Sources:The Kathmandu Post, published November 9, 2026 and updated at 4:27 pm NPT; completed result, match details and original featured photograph · OnlineKhabar English, published November 9, 2026; independent confirmation of totals, partnership and bowling figures · Nepal News, published November 9, 2026; final score, first-win context and Karnali points position · CricNepal, published November 9, 2026 at 2:30 pm NPT; century timing and official T20-status context · Nepal Premier League official fixtures, checked November 9, 2026; confirmed 12:30 pm NPT start and venue
Source: GPT News Feed
