On a low-scoring double-header where the ball dominated the bat, the Royals and Kings registered their third consecutive victories to strengthen their positions. Both captains led from the front to guide their sides home. Dipendra Singh Airee’s all-round performance sealed a comfortable 45-run win over Karnali Yaks, while Lamichhane’s four-wicket haul gave Biratnagar Kings a 9-run win over Janakpur Bolts in the first match of the day.

Across two seasons, the Royals have now won 8 of their 9 matches when batting first. Much like last year, they have once again started the campaign strongly with three straight wins. The Royals lost a wicket off the very first ball of the match as Sompal Kami cleaned up Josh Brown—the first time in NPL history that a wicket has fallen on the opening delivery of a match. Bhandari (11) and Lynn (18) both couldn’t get going. The Yaks kept striking at regular intervals, and the Royals found themselves at 73/5 after the dismissal of Aarif.

Once again, Harmeet (19) and Dipendra rescued the Royals with a 48-run stand for the sixth wicket—the highest partnership of the match. The Royals couldn’t accelerate at the end and finished on 139/9, a total that felt slightly under par with dew around. Skipper Dipendra Singh Airee top-scored with a 28-ball 39 (1 four, 2 sixes), while Aarif Sheikh contributed 27 off 25 (3 fours). Nandan Yadav, who bowled a superb final over, conceding only 2 runs, finished with 2 wickets from his 3 overs. Skipper Sompal Kami claimed 3/32 for the Yaks.

The Yaks also endured a poor start, slipping to 29/4. Airee picked up three of those wickets with his off-spin. Panchal was the first to depart on duck, stumped by Bhandari. Watt—fresh off a blistering century in the previous match—managed 17 off 10 and was dropped on 9 by Bohara. Hemant Dhami had Bossisto caught behind, although replays suggested it clipped the pad. Skipper Sompal promoted himself to No. 6 and tried to rebuild, adding 34 runs with Pawan for the fifth wicket. Harmeet Singh broke the stand with a caught-and-bowled dismissal of Sompal (14). Sarraf, Karnali’s top scorer, soon fell for 27, giving Bohara his first wicket. Sarraf struck four fours.

Gulshan Jha couldn’t capitalise on a drop on 5 by Dhami. Airee trapped Jha—Karnali’s biggest hope—LBW off the last ball of his spell. Karnali have now lost two of their three matches. Royals skipper Airee was named Player of the Match for his 39 and four-wicket haul.

First game of the day – Spin, spin, and more spin

Janakpur became the first team in NPL history to bowl all six powerplay overs with spin. They bowled 16 consecutive overs of spin—the most by any team—before Kishore Mahato and Rupesh Singh delivered two overs each. Janakpur made two changes, bringing in Sangeeth Cooray and Aaditya Mahata. All of the Kings’ top three fell to spinners, and only Bam (28) crossed 20. Basir Ahamad (36) and Shubham Ranjane (37) added 52 for the fourth wicket—the highest partnership of the match—to steady the innings. Basir smashed two sixes in one over from Mahata, while Ranjane took Mahato for 15 in the penultimate over. Cooray and Singh picked up 2 wickets each.

Despite the pitch being on the slower side, 135 looked slightly below par. Tamang dismissed Aasif—who scored a half-century in the previous game—for 13 to provide an early breakthrough. Lamichhane then removed his opposite number, Anil (4), caught at long-off. Milathana (23) was bowled by Lamichhane with a delivery that kept low. Tamang then had Krishnamurthi, who looked dangerous on 20 off 12, caught at short third man.

Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton kept the Bolts in the hunt by stitching together partnerships. The game was beautifully poised with 3 overs remaining and 25 runs needed. Lamichhane bowled a magical over, taking 2 wickets while conceding just 2 runs. De Lange gave away only 6 in the penultimate over, leaving Pratish to defend 17 in the last. The Bolts suffered a big blow when Loftie-Eaton (41) was run out off the second ball while attempting to retain the strike. His innings included 4 fours and a six. Lalit struck a four first ball to raise hope, but Janakpur eventually fell short by 9 runs—their second straight defeat this season.

Eight overs of spin from Lamichhane and Tamang proved decisive, as the pair combined for six wickets while conceding just 31 runs. Kings—who finished sixth last season with only two wins—now have three wins in three games. They are looking like one of the teams to beat, alongside Sudurpaschim Royals.

Takeaways

• 29 out of 40 overs in the first match were bowled by spinners.

• The highest powerplay score across the four innings was just 40.

• Both teams that reached 60+ at the 10-over mark ended up losing while chasing.