Rashid Khan and Karan KC take Kathmandu past Karnali's 180 with two balls left

Kathmandu Gorkhas beat Karnali Yaks by four wickets on Monday at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, with two balls to spare. It was Match 10 of NPL Season 3 and Kathmandu's first win, in their second game. Karnali had won both of theirs until now.

David Warner played his first NPL game. The Kathmandu Post reported his arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport earlier in the day, and he went straight into the side.

Karnali's 180

Kathmandu won the toss and chose to field. Ariful Islam hit 44 off 22 balls, with five fours and three sixes, before Shahab Alam had him caught by Warner. Mark Watt made 17 and Deepak Dumre 8, and Karnali were 78 for 4 in the tenth over.

Hussain Talat (40 off 30) and Pawan Sarraf then added 65 for the fifth wicket. Talat went hit wicket off Jahandad Khan, Gulshan Jha hit 20 off 12, and Sarraf finished on 30 not out. Karnali made 180 for 6.

Karan KC took two for 35 from his four overs. Shahab Alam, Jahandad Khan, Dev Shah and Santosh Yadav took one each.

Rashid, then Karan

Warner made 16 off 10 balls, with three fours, before Sompal Kami bowled him. Smit Patel went for 9, and Mohammad Aadil Alam's 20 off 27 kept one end going while Rashid Khan scored at the other. Rashid made 50 off 33 balls, with three fours and two sixes, and was out at 144 in the 17th over, caught by Sarraf off Talat.

Karan had already got going by then. He hit 44 off 20 balls, with four fours and three sixes, and the pair put on 55 off 26 for the fifth wicket. Sompal had Karan caught at 160 with two overs left. Jahandad Khan (22 not out off 10) and Santosh Yadav (5 not out) took Kathmandu to 181 for 6 in 19.4 overs. The 19th over, bowled by Sarraf, went for 17.

Sompal and Talat took two wickets each, and Watt and Nandan Yadav one each. Karan was player of the match. The Kathmandu Post notes that Kathmandu have now beaten Karnali in all three NPL seasons.

The scorecard and the points table are on the match page.