Chitwan Rhinos Field Four England Players in NPL Match 2

Chitwan Rhinos fielded England players in all four overseas slots in their Nepal Premier League Season 3 opener against Biratnagar Kings, after Pakistan trio Usama Mir, Hasan Ali and Mohammad Nawaz were unable to play over no-objection certificate issues.

Chitwan Rhinos field four England players

Chitwan Rhinos fielded England players in all four overseas slots in their Nepal Premier League Season 3 opener against Biratnagar Kings at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on October 27, 2026. Captain Ravi Bopara led a quartet completed by Dawid Malan, Dan Mousley and Tom Taylor, after Biratnagar won the toss and elected to bowl first in the 12:30 pm fixture.

OnlineKhabar reported that Bopara had already arrived in Nepal, while the other England players reached Nepal overnight after Chitwan's Pakistan players were unable to play. The report said Chitwan had earlier signed three Pakistan players, but Usama Mir, Hasan Ali and Mohammad Nawaz could not feature because of no-objection certificate issues, forcing the franchise into a hurried reshuffle before its first match of the season.

The reshuffle worked on the day. Chitwan posted 157 for three in 20 overs and then defended the total to win by eight runs, with Biratnagar bowled out for 149 in 19.3 overs. The result put Chitwan's first two points on the points table, and it gave the late-arriving England contingent an immediate stake in the Rhinos' campaign.

Malan, Bopara and Mousley shape the Chitwan total

Malan top-scored with 70 off 50 balls, hitting five fours and five sixes, after opening the innings with Dev Khanal. Khanal made 12 off 15 balls and Arjun Saud added three off nine, before Bopara and Mousley took charge of the closing overs with an unbeaten 67-run partnership that lifted Chitwan from a solid start to a defendable total.

Bopara finished unbeaten on 32 off 26 balls, while Mousley, batting in his first match for the franchise, finished unbeaten on 29 off 22 balls. Their partnership mattered because Biratnagar's attack, led by captain Sandeep Lamichhane, had kept Chitwan in check through the middle overs, and the late acceleration turned a par score into a winning one.

For Biratnagar, Imran Sheikh top-scored with 39 off 31 balls, Andre Russell smashed 33 off 17 balls and Lokesh Bam made 26 off 14 balls, but the chase fell short. Kamal Singh Airee was named player of the match for his four wickets for 26 runs, including two wickets in the 18th over.

Mousley and Taylor contribute with the ball

Mousley and Taylor also contributed with the ball, each taking one wicket. Mousley finished with one for 29 in three overs and dismissed Charith Asalanka, while Taylor finished with one for 23 in 2.3 overs and dismissed Shubham Ranjane, as Chitwan's bowlers shared the wickets around Airee's four-wicket burst.

Mousley is a left-handed batter who bowls right-arm off break and plays domestic cricket for Warwickshire. He made his England one-day and Twenty20 international debuts against West Indies in November 2024, and his unbeaten 29 in Kirtipur was a calm first contribution in Rhinos colours rather than a headline innings.

Taylor's role was equally practical: a late-arriving England bowler asked to bowl at the death, he held his nerve in the final over as Biratnagar needed runs with only wickets in hand. Together, the two newcomers showed why Chitwan had moved so quickly once the Pakistan players became unavailable, filling both a batting slot and a bowling slot in the same reshuffle.

Pakistan NOC trouble behind the England reshuffle

The background to the reshuffle is the uncertainty over Pakistan players' no-objection certificates that has followed Chitwan and other franchises into Season 3. Chitwan had signed leg-spinner Usama Mir as an overseas player, and the franchise's plans were built around Pakistan talent before the NOC problem intervened.

OnlineKhabar's report on the Biratnagar match states plainly that Mir, Hasan Ali and Mohammad Nawaz were not able to play in the NPL because of NOC issues. That left Chitwan with no Pakistan player in its playing eleven on Tuesday, and with all four overseas places filled by England players instead.

Whether the same quartet stays together for Chitwan's next fixture is not confirmed in the reports of the Biratnagar match, and the franchise has not announced a further squad change in those reports. What is confirmed is the immediate effect: a team forced into a last-minute rebuild started its season with a win. The full schedule and live scores will show how long that combination lasts.

Chitwan's eight-run win is covered in full in the match report, Malan's return to the franchise was confirmed earlier on Tuesday in the Malan signing report, and the wider NOC uncertainty was covered in the CAN and PCB report.

Chitwan's four-England experiment

For Chitwan, the four-England eleven is both a solution and a talking point. On the field, it delivered a balanced side: Malan's experience at the top, Bopara's captaincy and finishing, Mousley's left-handed batting and off-spin, and Taylor's seam bowling at the death. Off the field, it underlines how quickly a franchise must adapt when overseas availability changes days before a match.

The win also matters for the wider season. Chitwan finished seventh in the second edition after finishing fourth in the inaugural edition, and a winning start gives the Rhinos early momentum in a league where early results often shape the playoff race. Biratnagar, meanwhile, will take encouragement from Russell's 33 off 17 balls and Sheikh's 39, but will rue a chase that lost wickets at key moments.