Karnali vs Janakpur Highlights, NPL Season 3 Match 3

Karnali vs Janakpur highlights from NPL Season 3 Match 3: Karnali defended 132 for 9 and bowled Janakpur out for 113 at Kirtipur. Watch the fan-made Day 2 wrap, plus the full story of Ariful's 43, Thakuri's 3 for 22 and the six-wicket collapse for 19 runs.

Karnali vs Janakpur Highlights: Match 3 Video

Watch the fan-made Day 2 wrap of the match here: Nepal Premier League Daily Day 2, with a Gulsan Jha interview, on YouTube. The video is a fan-made daily wrap and reaction show, not the official broadcast package, and it does not carry the official match footage. No official highlights had appeared on the rights holders' channels (NetTV or Himalaya Television) when this article was published, and this page will add the official video when it appears.

The wrap covers the evening match in full: Karnali, batting first after losing the toss, posted 132 for 9 in 20 overs at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on Tuesday 27 October 2026, and then bowled Janakpur out for 113 in 19.3 overs. Janakpur, the inaugural champions, lost their last six wickets for just 19 runs, and the collapse, not the first innings, decided the match.

The interview in the video is with Gulshan Jha, who scored 12 runs and took two catches in Karnali's win. The wrap also walks through how Karnali's bowlers turned a below-par total into a 19-run win, and why Janakpur's chase fell apart in the second half.

How Ariful's 43 and Sarraf's 37 Built Karnali's 132 for 9

Janakpur won the toss and sent Karnali in, and for the first ten overs that call looked right. Karnali lost Mark Watt for one off five balls on the final ball of the first over, and Deepak Dumre, who made 13 off five balls with two sixes, went soon after. When Hussain Talat fell for three, the Yaks were struggling at 37 for three, and Karnali's innings needed a rescue.

Ariful Islam provided it. The Bangladeshi opener made 43 off 29 balls, striking four sixes and no fours, and shared a 42-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Pawan Sarraf, who made a patient 37 off 37 balls with three sixes. The pair steadied Karnali from 37 for three to a position where a total was possible, and although both fell before the death overs, their stand was the difference between a collapse and a defendable score.

The lower order added useful runs without ever taking control. Akbar Ali and captain Sompal Kami made one each, Gulshan Jha scored 12 off nine balls, and Nandan Yadav made nine off 12. Yuvraj Khatri finished unbeaten on one, and Karnali closed on 132 for nine. Janakpur's bowling was led by their captain Harmeet Singh, who took three wickets for 22 runs in four overs, including a maiden, on his first appearance for the franchise. Moeen Ali took two for 19 and Rahul Yadav two for 15, and Lalit Rajbanshi took one for 38.

Thakuri and Talat's Three Wickets Each Break the Chase

Janakpur's chase never found a partnership that lasted. Mayan Yadav made 14 off 11 balls and Trit Raj Das one off three, and although Moeen Ali made 19 off 22 and Anil Sah 11 off 17, the early wickets kept Janakpur behind the rate. Kusal Perera, playing his first match for Janakpur, made six off four balls, and when the middle order went, the chase went with it.

The turning point was Unish Bikram Singh Thakuri. The left-arm spinner bowled Janakpur captain Harmeet Singh for 19 with a cut-and-bowled dismissal in the 14th over, then struck twice in successive deliveries two overs later, removing James Neesham for 15 and Aaditya Mahata without scoring. He finished with three wickets for 22 runs in four overs, including a maiden, and was named Player of the Match. Hussain Talat matched him with three for 26, and the pair took six wickets between them.

Abhisekh Tiwari, Janakpur's top scorer with 20 off 17 balls including two sixes, was the last recognised batter to go, and Nandan Yadav closed the match with two wickets for 13 runs in 2.3 overs, bowling Lalit Rajbanshi for one as the final wicket. Janakpur lost their last six wickets for 19 runs and were bowled out for 113 in 19.3 overs, 19 runs short. Captain Sompal Kami claimed one wicket, and Karnali's bowlers shared the remaining wickets around the two three-wicket spells.

What Match 3 Means for Both Sides

Karnali take two points and a net run rate of +0.950 from their opening match, while Janakpur start on zero points at -0.950. Lumbini Lions, who won the opener, also sit on two points, so after three matches the table has Lumbini on top, Karnali second and Chitwan third. The full standings are on the points table, and the full scorecard and ball-by-ball coverage sit on the Karnali vs Janakpur match centre.

Thakuri's award is the third individual honour of the season after Sher Malla's Player of the Match spell in the opener and Kamal Singh Airee's four wickets in Match 2. His 14th over, bowling the opposition captain when Janakpur were still in the chase, was the single most valuable over of the match. Ariful's 43, meanwhile, confirmed what Karnali bought him for: a top-order batter who can hold an innings together while wickets fall around him.

Both teams play again on Thursday 29 October at Kirtipur. Janakpur face Kathmandu Gorkhas at 12:30 PM NST, and Karnali face Biratnagar Kings at 5:00 PM NST. The match report is covered in Karnali Yaks Beat Janakpur Bolts by 19 Runs in NPL M3, and the first highlights article of the season, for Match 2, is covered in Biratnagar vs Chitwan Highlights, NPL Season 3 Match 2.

No post-match quotes from either captain had been published by a verified outlet when this article was written, so none are quoted here. The tournament runs from 26 October to 21 November, with 28 league matches and four playoffs, all at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur.

Karnali Yaks vs Janakpur Bolts – Who will win?

3rd Match · 27 Oct | Tue · 5:00 PM NPT. Back your team — one vote per device, and you can switch any time.

Karnali Yaks0%Janakpur Bolts0%

Tap a team to cast your vote.

Results are shared live with every fan. One vote per device.