No NPL Match Today: Rest Day on 11 November

There is no Nepal Premier League match today. Wednesday, 11 November 2026 is a scheduled rest day in Season 3, the pause the league built into the calendar for Bhai Tika, the final day of Tihar. The TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur falls quiet for a day after 21 matches in 16 days, and the action returns on Thursday, 12 November, with two matches.

Why there is no match today

Bhai Tika closes Tihar, the festival of lights, and it is a day families in Nepal spend together. Brothers and sisters exchange tika and gifts, and the day belongs at home rather than at the ground. The league knew this when the fixtures were drawn up, and 11 November was left blank from the start, just as the earlier rest days were.

It is the fourth scheduled rest day of the season, after 30 October, 4 November and 8 November, and it arrives at the right moment. The league stage has reached its final week, two teams have already booked playoff places, and every remaining match carries something. For one day, though, there is nothing to play for, and nothing to watch live from Kirtipur.

The break also gives the players a day to breathe. Twenty-one matches have been played since the season opened on 26 October, most of them under lights in front of full stands, and the cricket has been played at a relentless pace. A day off now, with seven league matches still to play, is a chance for tired bodies to recover and for teams to take stock before the run-in.

For the fans, the pause is a chance to catch up on the table. The picture changed sharply on Tuesday, when Sudurpaschim Royals beat Janakpur Bolts and joined Kathmandu Gorkhas in the playoffs, and the final week now has a clear shape: two places still open, four teams chasing them, and a last day of league matches on Sunday that could still decide plenty.

What happened yesterday

The last match before the break was Match 21 on Tuesday, 10 November, and it was a low-scoring contest that turned on bowling. Sudurpaschim Royals scored 120 for nine in their 20 overs, with Brandon McMullen top-scoring with 33 off 23 balls and Tharindu Ratnayake unbeaten on 27 off 28. It looked below par at the halfway stage, and for a while it seemed Janakpur Bolts would chase it down without much trouble.

Janakpur never got going. They were bowled out for 93 in 19.5 overs, chasing 121, and the 27-run defeat was their third in a row. Tritraj Das top-scored with 21 off 29 balls and James Neesham made 20 off 25, but the rest of the batting fell away. Scott Kuggeleijn took three wickets for 13 runs and was named player of the match, while Harmeet Singh took four for 17 against his former team.

Harmeet's four wickets took him to 11 for the tournament, the most by any bowler so far, and his spell was the decisive one on the night. Dipendra Singh Airee conceded only 15 runs in his four overs, and the fielding stayed sharp to the end, with the last wicket falling in the final over of the match.

The result mattered beyond the two points. Sudurpaschim's fourth win in six matches took them to eight points and confirmed their place in the playoffs alongside Kathmandu. Janakpur, meanwhile, were left on four points from six matches with one game to play, their playoff hopes hanging by a thread.

The points table after 21 matches

Kathmandu Gorkhas and Sudurpaschim Royals lead the table with eight points each. Kathmandu have won four of their five matches, while Sudurpaschim have won four of six, and both teams are already sure of a place in the playoffs. Lumbini Lions sit third on seven points from five matches, with one no-result among their three wins.

Chitwan Rhinos are fourth on five points from five matches, with two wins, two defeats and one no-result. Then come three teams on four points: Janakpur Bolts from six matches, and Karnali Yaks and Biratnagar Kings from five each. Pokhara Avengers are eighth on two points from five matches, their only win coming against Karnali Yaks in Match 19.

Seven league matches remain, and the table is tight enough that the final day could still change the order. Lumbini, Chitwan, Karnali and Biratnagar all have two matches left, Janakpur have one, and Pokhara have two. Nobody below the top two is safe yet, and nobody below them is out of it either.

What happens next

Play resumes on Thursday, 12 November, with two matches at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur. Biratnagar Kings meet Pokhara Avengers in Match 22 at 12:30 PM NST, and Karnali Yaks meet Lumbini Lions in Match 23 at 4:30 PM NST.

The morning match matters most to Pokhara. They have two points from five matches and need to win both of their remaining games to have any chance of reaching the playoffs. A defeat against Biratnagar would end their season with a match still to play. Biratnagar, on four points, need the win just as much to stay in the race.

The evening match is a meeting of two teams going in opposite directions. Lumbini, third on seven points, can take a big step towards the playoffs with a win, while Karnali, on four points after three straight defeats, need to stop the slide. Lumbini beat Karnali in the reverse fixture earlier in the season, and Karnali will want to put that right.

Friday, 13 November brings two more matches: Kathmandu Gorkhas against Sudurpaschim Royals at 12:30 PM NST, a meeting of the two teams already through to the playoffs, and Janakpur Bolts against Chitwan Rhinos at 4:30 PM NST, which is Janakpur's last league match. Saturday, 14 November has a single match, Biratnagar Kings against Lumbini Lions at 4:30 PM NST.

The league stage ends on Sunday, 15 November, with Chitwan Rhinos against Karnali Yaks at 12:30 PM NST and Pokhara Avengers against Kathmandu Gorkhas at 4:30 PM NST. By the end of that day, the four playoff teams will be known, and the focus will turn to the playoffs in the week that follows.

The playoffs

The playoffs begin on Tuesday, 17 November with Qualifier 1, followed by the Eliminator on Wednesday, 18 November, Qualifier 2 on Thursday, 19 November, and the final on Saturday, 21 November. All four matches are at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur.

Kathmandu Gorkhas and Sudurpaschim Royals are already through, and the remaining two places will go to the best of the rest. Lumbini Lions are best placed to take one of them, but Chitwan, Karnali, Biratnagar and even Pokhara and Janakpur still have something to play for in the final week.

The race for the last two playoff places

Lumbini's position is the strongest of the chasers. Seven points from five matches, with games against Karnali and Biratnagar still to come, means two wins would take them to 11 points and almost certainly a top-two finish. Even one win, taking them to nine points, would leave them well placed.

Chitwan, on five points, need to win their remaining matches against Janakpur and Karnali to reach nine points and stay ahead of the teams below them. Karnali and Biratnagar, both on four points, need to win both of theirs and hope results elsewhere go their way.

Pokhara's task is the hardest. Two points from five matches means they must beat Biratnagar on Thursday and Kathmandu on Sunday, and then rely on other results, to have any chance. Janakpur, on four points with only one match left, against Chitwan on Friday, must win that game and then wait on the other results.

Players to watch when play resumes

The bowling charts have a clear leader. Harmeet Singh's four wickets against Janakpur took him to 11 for the tournament, the most by any bowler, and Rijan Dhakal of Kathmandu Gorkhas is next with 10. Scott Kuggeleijn's three for 13 in Match 21 showed what he can do with the new ball, and the final week will test every attack again.

With the bat, Lokesh Bam leads the run chart, and the Nepali batters have held their own against the overseas names all season. Yuvraj Samra's 45-ball century for Pokhara Avengers against Karnali Yaks in Match 19 remains the innings of the tournament so far, and Pokhara will need more of the same from him on Thursday if they are to stay alive.

Kathmandu, meanwhile, have carried on without David Warner, who returned home after four matches. They still lead the table, and their depth has been the story of their season, with runs and wickets shared around the side rather than resting on one player.

Today, though, there is no cricket to watch. The ground is empty, the players are with their families for Bhai Tika, and the league takes its fourth breath of the season. It returns on Thursday with two matches, a playoff race still wide open, and a final week that will decide who joins Kathmandu and Sudurpaschim in the playoffs.