Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Karnali Yaks defeated Janakpur Bolts by 19 runs in Match No. 3 of the Nepal Premier League (NPL) in Kathmandu on Tuesday.
Sent in to bat after losing the toss, Karnali Yaks scored 132 runs for the loss of nine wickets. In reply, Janakpur Bolts folded for 113 runs in 19.3 overs.
Although Karnali lost opener Mark Watt (1) with just four runs on the board in the first over, Ariful Islam steadied the innings with a 43 off 29 balls, despite losing support at the other end. Deepak Dumre (13) and Hussain Talat (3) failed to contribute much with the bat. Pawan Sarraf, however, supported Islam with a run-a-ball 37, while Gulsan Jha contributed 12 off nine balls. The other Karnali batters failed to reach double digits.
Captain Harmeet Singh took three wickets to restrict Karnali to 132. Moeen Ali and Rahul Yadav, the 16-year-old playing his first official T20 match, claimed two wickets each. Lalit Rajbanshi chipped in with a wicket.
Like Karnali, Janakpur also stuttered in the chase, losing opener Tri Raj Das (1) in the second over. Although Mayan Yadav (13), Moeen Ali (19), Anil Sah (11), James Neesham (15), Harmeet Singh (19) and Abhishek Tiwari (20) all got starts, they failed to convert them into big scores or build meaningful partnerships against Karnali’s disciplined bowling attack.
Hussain Talat and Unish Thakuri took three wickets each for Karnali, while Nandan Yadav claimed two and captain Sompal Kami picked up one.
Pokhara Avengers take on Sudurpaschim Royals in the day’s only fixture on Wednesday.
