Kathmandu's Perfect Record Over Karnali Hits Three

Three seasons, three meetings, three Kathmandu wins. The Gorkhas have never lost to Karnali Yaks in the Nepal Premier League, and their latest win, a four-wicket chase of 181 at Kirtipur, was the closest yet to breaking the pattern.

A record that spans all three seasons

Kathmandu Gorkhas have beaten Karnali Yaks in every season the Nepal Premier League has been played. The first win came on December 4, 2024, when Kathmandu chased down a target of 150 with three wickets in hand, reaching 153 for 7 with three balls to spare at Kirtipur. Karnali had posted 149 for 5, powered by Shikhar Dhawan's half-century, but Kathmandu held their nerve in a last-over finish.

The second meeting, on November 30, 2025, followed a similar script. Karnali again batted first and again posted 149, this time for seven wickets, and Kathmandu again chased it down, this time with five wickets and two overs to spare. Gerhard Erasmus finished unbeaten on 43 in that win, which moved Kathmandu closer to the playoffs while dealing a blow to Karnali's own hopes.

Monday's third meeting broke the low-scoring pattern but not the result. Karnali posted 180 for 6, their biggest total of the three meetings, and still lost. That is what turns a curiosity into a record: the margin has stayed close every time, three wickets, five wickets, four wickets, yet the winner has never changed.

The 181 chase that kept the streak alive

Karnali's 180 for 6 looked like a winning total for most of the first innings. Ariful Islam set the pace with 44 off 22 balls, Hussain Talat and Pawan Sarraf rebuilt with a 65-run fifth-wicket stand, Talat making 40 off 30 and Sarraf 30 off 24, and Gulshan Jha's 20 off 12 gave the innings a late lift. Kathmandu captain Karan KC took two wickets, but as he admitted afterwards, the plan had been to keep Karnali far quieter. “We had planned to restrict them to 150-160,” KC, the player of the match, said in the post-match press conference. “But when the target came of 181, we were still confident.”

The chase began badly: David Warner, in his first NPL match, was clean bowled for 16 off 10 balls by Karnali captain Sompal Kami, and Kathmandu slipped to 89 for 4 in the 13th over. Then Rashid Khan (50 off 33) and Karan (44 off 20) added 55 for the fifth wicket, and Jahandad Khan, unbeaten on 22 off 10 balls, saw Kathmandu home at 181 for 6 in 19.4 overs.

Karan KC's case for local players

Asked whether the team felt pressure after Warner's early dismissal while chasing a big total, Karan gave the answer that frames this Kathmandu side. “For me, as a captain, I do not feel that foreign players will win matches for us. It is why we do not panic when overseas players get out early,” KC said. “The seven domestic players in the playing set are the ones I believe can win matches for us.” Monday backed him up: Warner made 16, and the chase was finished by Rashid, Karan and Jahandad, all local players.

Karan also turned the spotlight back on Karnali, recalling the Yaks' own famous chase earlier in the season, when Sompal Kami's unbeaten 62 carried them past Biratnagar's 187 with one ball to spare. “I think they got the taste … I hope they feel how it is,” KC said when asked if his team had taken inspiration from that chase. “But still, it's a game. It was my plan, to give quick runs for the team [with the bat]. I will try to finish it next time, not get out like today.”

What the streak means, and what it does not

Three matches is a small sample, and every one of them was a chase at the same ground, so the record should not be read as proof that Kathmandu own this fixture in any permanent sense. Karnali have been the better side overall this season: after Match 13 they sit third on the points table with four points from three matches, while Kathmandu are seventh on two points from two. A 3-0 head-to-head does not change that balance; if anything, it sharpens the puzzle, because the team with the worse record keeps winning the direct meeting.

What the streak does show is a pattern in how these games are played. In all three seasons Karnali have batted first, and in all three Kathmandu have chased, which means Karnali have never yet had the chance to defend a total against this opponent. The margins, three, five and four wickets, also say these have been contests rather than routs: one wicket at the wrong time would have ended the run in any of the three years. For Kathmandu, the four-wicket win over Karnali was their first win of Season 3 and a template for how they want to play, local players finishing chases. For Karnali, it was a reminder that a good total is not a safe one against this opponent. The two sides do not meet again in the league stage, where each pair plays only once, so a fourth chapter would need both teams to reach the playoffs. Until then, the record stands at 3-0, and the full schedule shows what comes first: Kathmandu face Biratnagar Kings on November 5, while Karnali meet Sudurpaschim Royals on Friday, with the points table after Match 13 leaving both sides still chasing the top four.