Nepali Players Sweep the First Four NPL Player of the Match Awards

Four matches into NPL season 3, every Player of the Match award has gone to a Nepali player. Three home bowlers took the first three honours, and Sudurpaschim Royals captain Dipendra Singh Airee completed the sweep with an unbeaten fifty in Match 4.

The Four Awards in Full

All four matches of NPL season 3 so far have been played at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, and all four Player of the Match awards have stayed with home players. Sher Malla opened the sequence for Lumbini Lions in the season opener, Kamal Singh Airee followed for Chitwan Rhinos in Match 2, and Unish Bikram Singh Thakuri took the third for Karnali Yaks in Match 3. Dipendra Singh Airee completed the set in Match 4, leading Sudurpaschim Royals to their first win of the season.

The pattern is striking because the tournament has no shortage of overseas star power. David Warner is with Kathmandu Gorkhas, Andre Russell and Angelo Mathews are with Biratnagar Kings, and Shakib Al Hasan is with Pokhara Avengers, yet none of the first four individual awards has gone to an overseas player. The highest individual score of the season so far still belongs to an overseas batter, Dawid Malan, whose 70 off 50 balls set up Chitwan's win in Match 2.

Three Bowlers Set the Pattern

Malla set the tone on the opening day. The Lumbini off-spinner took three wickets for 11 runs in four overs as Sudurpaschim Royals were bowled out for 87 in 17.2 overs, trapping Binod Bhandari lbw in the fourth over and removing Sherfane Rutherford for one. Lumbini chased 88 for the loss of three wickets in 9.5 overs, with D'Arcy Short making 40 off 18 balls, and Malla's economy rate of 2.75 was the foundation of a seven-wicket win.

Kamal Singh Airee's award in Match 2 was won in a single over. Chitwan Rhinos had posted 157 for three against Biratnagar Kings, thanks largely to Malan's 70, and Biratnagar's chase was still alive when Russell hit 33 off 17 balls. Airee then struck twice in the 18th over, removing Rupesh Singh and Pratis GC for ducks, and finished with four wickets for 26 runs in four overs. Biratnagar lost their last five wickets for eight runs across the 18th and 19th overs and were bowled out for 149, giving Chitwan an eight-run win.

Thakuri's turn came in Match 3, and it was the most complete bowling performance of the three. The Karnali left-arm spinner took three wickets for 22 runs in four overs, including a maiden, as Janakpur Bolts were bowled out for 113 chasing Karnali's 132 for nine. His decisive moment was bowling Janakpur captain Harmeet Singh for 19 in the 14th over, then striking twice in successive deliveries two overs later to remove James Neesham for 15 and Aaditya Mahata without scoring. Karnali won by 19 runs, and Thakuri's award meant that, after three matches, every Player of the Match honour had gone to a Nepali bowler.

A Captain's Fifty Breaks the Bowling Run

Dipendra Singh Airee kept the sweep alive in Match 4, but he did it with the bat rather than the ball. Pokhara Avengers, playing their first match of the season, posted 145 for seven after being sent in, with Arjun Gharti unbeaten on 40 off 25 balls and Mahedi Hasan making 32 off 21. Sudurpaschim's chase wobbled at 37 for three before Airee joined Ishan Pandey, and the pair added 74 runs for the fourth wicket, with Pandey making 37 off 31 balls.

Airee finished unbeaten on 51 off 36 balls, hitting the winning runs, and he had also taken one wicket for 21 runs in four overs, including the wicket of Pokhara captain Kushal Bhurtel. Sudurpaschim reached 148 for four in 16.5 overs to win by six wickets with 19 balls to spare. It was the second half-century of the season after Malan's 70, and it gave the two-time finalists their first win after their opening defeat to Lumbini.

The change in method is part of the story. The first three awards rewarded bowlers defending modest totals or closing out tight chases, while the fourth rewarded a captain anchoring a chase under pressure. Airee's award came in the match where Sudurpaschim most needed a leader, after being bowled out for 87 in the opener.

What the Sweep Means for the Early Season

Four matches is a small sample, and it would be a mistake to read too much into it. The points table after Match 4 is tightly packed, with Lumbini Lions leading on net run rate and four teams on two points, so a single result on Thursday can reorder the table. Today's matches at Kirtipur are Kathmandu Gorkhas against Janakpur Bolts at 12:30 PM, followed by Karnali Yaks against Biratnagar Kings at 5:00 PM, and either game could produce the season's first overseas Player of the Match winner.

For the franchises, the lesson is practical rather than romantic. Home players are not just filling domestic quotas in the early games; they are delivering the spells and innings that decide results. Coaches will still build plans around overseas match-winners, but the first four awards suggest that the team whose Nepali core performs best on the day has, so far, been the team that walks away with the points.