Samra's Century Powers Pokhara to First NPL Win as Karnali Fall 63 Runs Short

Pokhara break their losing run in Kirtipur

Yuvraaj Singh Samra struck 102 from 48 balls as Pokhara Avengers ended four consecutive defeats with a 63-run victory over Karnali Yaks at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on Monday, November 9. Pokhara made 217 for three, the season's first total above 200, before bowling Karnali out for 154 in 18.3 overs.

The Canadian opener reached his century in 45 balls in only his second Nepal Premier League appearance. His 136-run partnership with Kushal Bhurtel, who scored 62 from 39 deliveries, gave Pokhara control of a match they needed to revive their campaign.

Pokhara collected their first two points in five matches. Karnali remained on four points from five games, with two victories, leaving them just one win ahead of the team they had failed to contain.

Mahedi Hasan then led Pokhara's bowling with three wickets for 24 runs in four overs. Karnali briefly threatened through quick scoring from Ariful Islam and Deepak Dumre, but six wickets had fallen by the ninth over. A later recovery reduced the damage without bringing the target within reach.

A slow opening becomes a commanding partnership

Pokhara won the toss and chose to bat, but their opening partnership ended at 27. Mahedi, opening alongside Samra, made five from 16 balls before Sompal Kami had him caught by Dumre in the fourth over.

Samra and Bhurtel added 136 for the second wicket, taking Pokhara from 27 for one to 163 for two. A partnership counts all the runs scored while two batters are together, including extras conceded by the bowling side. Their stand supplied almost 63 percent of Pokhara's final total.

Samra reached his hundred with Pokhara on 161 for one after 15 overs. He was dismissed five deliveries into the next over, caught by Ariful off Mark Watt. By then, his innings had given the remaining batters a platform to attack rather than rebuild.

Samra and Bhurtel find the boundaries

Samra hit 10 fours and six sixes, collecting 76 of his 102 runs from boundaries. A four generally means the ball reaches the boundary after touching the ground; a six clears it without bouncing. Almost three quarters of his runs came from those 16 shots.

Bhurtel's innings followed a different pattern. His seven sixes supplied 42 of his 62 runs, meaning more than two thirds of his score came from hits over the boundary. Together, the pair struck 13 sixes, worth 78 runs.

Samra scored at a strike rate of 212.5, meaning he averaged just over two runs for every ball he faced. Bhurtel's strike rate was about 159. Those figures explain how Pokhara accelerated despite Mahedi's slow start.

Bhurtel stayed at the crease after Samra's dismissal before falling to Kami at 17.5 overs. In cricket notation, that means 17 completed overs and five balls, rather than a decimal fraction. Each completed over contains six legal deliveries.

A late surge takes Pokhara close to the record

Captain Chamika Karunaratne supplied the late acceleration, finishing unbeaten from 11 balls with three fours and three sixes. His score was given as 35 in the match result details, although two accounts of Pokhara's innings listed it as 25. The stated boundary tally alone accounts for 30 runs.

Pokhara finished on 217 for three, just three runs below the NPL record of 220 set by Biratnagar Kings against them in 2025. Having previously conceded the competition's highest total, Pokhara now produced its second highest.

Kami was Karnali's most economical wicket taker, conceding 24 runs in four overs while dismissing Mahedi and Bhurtel. Watt took the other wicket. Kami allowed six runs per over, compared with Pokhara's scoring rate of 10.85 across the innings.

Samra and Bhurtel's 136 was described as the season's highest partnership. An account also called it the highest in NPL history, while the competition's earlier results included an unbeaten opening stand of 176 by Andries Gous and Dinesh Kharel for Pokhara against Lumbini Lions in 2024.

Karnali's chase loses wickets too quickly

Karnali needed 218 to win, requiring an average of 10.9 runs per over from the start. Ariful and Jishan Alam put on 19 before Alam fell without scoring to Dhananjaya Lakshan at 1.3 overs. Ariful made 24 from 13 deliveries, but his dismissal left Karnali on 25 for two after 2.4 overs.

Dumre gave the chase another burst of energy, striking three sixes and a four in 22 from just seven balls. Mahedi bowled him with the final delivery of the fifth over, ending an innings in which 22 of his runs came from four boundary shots.

Mark Watt contributed eight, David Miller seven and Gulshan Jha two. When the sixth wicket fell at 8.1 overs, Karnali were 72 for six. They still needed 146 from 71 legal deliveries, with only four wickets remaining.

Karnali's early scoring had kept the innings moving, but the dismissals left too few established batters to sustain an attack. Pokhara could keep pursuing wickets while protecting a substantial total.

A recovery ends with an unusual dismissal

Pawan Sarraf and captain Sompal Kami added 58 for the seventh wicket, lifting Karnali from 72 to 130. Their partnership was the longest resistance of the chase and accounted for more than a third of Karnali's eventual total.

Kami made 21 from 19 balls, including one four, before being given out obstructing the field on the final delivery of the 15th over. This dismissal applies when a batter deliberately obstructs or distracts the fielding side through words or actions. After playing a shot, Kami struck the ball a second time as it bounced back on the pitch. Pokhara wicketkeeper Arjun Gharti and his teammates appealed, and the television umpire gave Kami out after a review, ruling that he had obstructed the fielding side while attempting a run. Karnali were 130 for seven at the end of the over.

After 16 overs, Karnali were 133 for seven, still needing 85 runs from the final four overs.

Sarraf finished as Karnali's leading scorer with 32 from 31 balls, including one four and two sixes. Nandan Yadav added three and Surya Tamang 13 before the innings ended at 154, with nine legal deliveries unused.

Mahedi's three wickets were supported by two each from Bhurtel, Lakshan and Bipin Khatri. Those nine bowling wickets, together with Kami's obstruction dismissal, accounted for all 10 Karnali wickets.

A young Canadian adds another century

Samra, 20, had joined Pokhara for the remaining matches of the tournament. His hundred made him the first centurion of the season and the fourth player to score an NPL century. He also became the third Pokhara player to reach the milestone, following Gous and Adam Rossington.

Gous had scored his century against Lumbini in the inaugural season, while Rossington reached three figures against Karnali in the second edition. Samra's innings continued that sequence of major individual scores for Pokhara, this time delivering the team's first victory of the campaign.

The Canadian batter had already attracted international attention with 110 from 65 balls against New Zealand at the men's T20 World Cup. He became the first batter from an Associate nation to score a century in that competition and its youngest centurion. Associate nations are members of the International Cricket Council outside the group holding Full Member status.

His family helped make that progress possible. His father, Baljit, named him after Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh. Samra studied at home during grades 11 and 12 to make more time for cricket, and his mother left her job to support his career. He hopes to play for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.

Samra credits his parents and a simple plan

Samra, Pokhara's Canadian opening batter, dedicated his first NPL century to his parents after the match. In remarks translated from Nepali, he credited their work and support:

This century is for my mother and father. They have worked very hard for me. The credit for where I am today goes to them.

Samra described playing before Nepali supporters as a special experience. He said his batting plan was to play straight, aim toward the sight screen and respond to the delivery. A sight screen is the large plain backdrop behind the bowler that helps a batter see the ball.

Samra also credited time alongside Steve Smith and Tim David in the European T20 Premier League with teaching him to keep the game simple. Against Karnali, that approach produced a century quickly enough to leave Pokhara several overs for a final surge.

What changes in the playoff race?

Pokhara's first victory kept their playoff hopes alive after four defeats had left them without a point. Samra expressed confidence that the team could achieve that goal if it maintained the level shown against Karnali.

Karnali's defeat left them with two wins and three losses. Pokhara now had one win and four losses, narrowing the gap between the teams to two points. The result also gave Pokhara a positive contribution to their net run rate, the competition measure that compares how quickly a team scores with how quickly it concedes runs.

The standings placed Karnali seventh with four points and a net run rate of -0.846, while Pokhara remained eighth with two points and a net run rate of -0.707. Lumbini Lions led with seven points, followed by Kathmandu Gorkhas and Sudur Paschim Royals on six each. Chitwan Rhinos had five points, while Janakpur Bolts and Biratnagar Kings were above Karnali on net run rate with four points each.

The exact change in net run rate and the teams' next fixture dates were not given. Pokhara's immediate gain was clear: points on the table and a complete performance, with a century followed by enough bowling support to defend the total comfortably.

Key Points

• Pokhara Avengers beat Karnali Yaks by 63 runs in Kirtipur for their first victory after four defeats.
• Yuvraaj Singh Samra scored 102 from 48 balls and reached his century in 45 deliveries.
• Samra and Kushal Bhurtel added 136 for the second wicket; Bhurtel made 62 from 39 balls.
• Pokhara's 217 for three was the season's first total above 200 and the second highest in NPL history.
• Mahedi Hasan took three for 24 as Karnali were dismissed for 154 in 18.3 overs.
• Pokhara reached two points from five matches and remained eighth, while Karnali remained seventh on four points from five.