Samra Dedicates First NPL Century to His Parents

Quick Facts

Match

Pokhara Avengers vs Karnali Yaks, Match 19, NPL Season 3

Date and venue

Monday, 9 November 2026, TU International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur

Result

Pokhara Avengers won by 63 runs — first win of the season

Samra's innings

102 off 48 balls — 10 fours, six sixes, fifty in 23 balls, hundred in 45

Dedication

Samra dedicated the century to his mother and father

Key partnership

136 runs in 68 balls with Kushal Bhurtel (62 off 39)

Points

Pokhara move to 2 points from five matches; Karnali stay on 4 points from five matches

Yuvraj Samra dedicated the first century of Nepal Premier League Season 3 to his parents. The Canadian opener's 102 from 48 balls powered Pokhara Avengers to a 63-run win over Karnali Yaks at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on Monday, 9 November 2026, and ended Pokhara's four-match losing start to the season. Speaking after the match, Samra said the hundred belonged to the two people who had worked hardest to put him there.

The dedication

"This century is for my mother and father. They have worked very hard for me. Wherever I am today, the credit for that goes to them," Samra said after the match. It was a short dedication, and it explained the innings better than any statistic could. Behind the 102 runs stood years of early mornings, long drives to training and a family that had organised its life around one boy's cricket.

The hundred was the first of the season and the fourth in NPL history. Samra reached his fifty in 23 balls and his hundred in 45, striking 10 fours and six sixes before he fell in the 16th over. His 136-run stand with Kushal Bhurtel carried Pokhara to 217 for 3, the first 200-plus total of the season, and Karnali were bowled out for 154 in 18.3 overs.

Samra also spoke about how much it meant to play in Nepal. He said he was delighted to be part of the league and called playing in front of the Kirtipur crowd a special experience. The supporters had come to watch the overseas stars, and on Monday they watched a young batter from Toronto play the innings of the season so far.

A simple plan, executed violently

For all the emotion around the innings, Samra described his batting in plain terms. He said he had kept his plan simple and stuck to it, and once he did that the game opened up for him. His strategy was to bat aggressively in the powerplay and put the Karnali bowlers under pressure from the very start, rather than waiting for the innings to settle.

That approach showed in the way he batted. He does not overthink at the crease. If the ball comes into his area, he hits it; if it does not, he rotates the strike. Against Karnali, plenty of balls came into his area. He drove and pulled with a freedom that made a difficult chase out of a total before Karnali had even started batting.

Pokhara had won the toss and chosen to bat, and Samra set the tone from the first over. He put on 27 for the first wicket with Mahedi Hasan, then built the innings around the 136-run stand with Bhurtel that lasted 68 balls. By the time he was dismissed, caught by Ariful Islam off Mark Watt with Pokhara on 163 for 2, the platform was already enormous.

Bhurtel played the supporting role superbly. His 62 from 39 balls, with seven sixes and no fours, was his third half-century of the season, and it kept the pressure on Karnali long after Samra's departure. Chamika Karunaratne provided the finish with an unbeaten 35 from just 11 balls, with three fours and three sixes, as Pokhara added 38 runs in the final two overs. Sunny BK stayed with him on 3 not out from six balls.

The chase falls away

Chasing 218 was always a mountain, and Karnali's reply began brightly before falling away. Ariful Islam struck 24 from 13 balls with two fours and two sixes, and Deepak Dumre smashed 22 from just seven balls with three sixes, but both were gone early and the asking rate never came down.

Karnali were 72 for 5 after eight overs, and from there the chase drifted out of reach. Pawan Sarraf fought hardest, making 32 from 31 balls, but he found no partner to stay with him. David Miller managed only 7 from nine balls, Mark Watt made 8 from 14, and the middle order folded in a rush.

Mahedi Hasan led the bowling effort with 3 for 24 from his four overs, removing Watt, Dumre and Miller. Dhananjaya Lakshan took 2 for 24, including Jishan Alam for a first-ball duck and Sarraf, while Bhurtel claimed 2 for 39 and Bipin Khatri took 2 for 39. Karunaratne went wicketless for 21 from two overs, and Sunny BK bowled a single over for five.

The strangest dismissal of the match belonged to Karnali captain Sompal Kami. On 21 from 19 balls, he was given out obstructing the field after hitting the ball twice, a rare sight in any league and a moment that summed up Karnali's afternoon. Surya Tamang added 13 from eight balls and Yuvraj Khatri was left unbeaten on 1 as Karnali were bowled out for 154 with nine balls unused.

From Toronto to Kirtipur

The dedication made sense to anyone who knows Samra's story. He was named after Indian great Yuvraj Singh by his father Baljit, a cricket-mad immigrant from Samra village in Punjab who had settled in Toronto and never lost his love for the game. His father told his wife that if they had a boy, he would be called Yuvraj, no matter what.

His mother Hoshiar Kaur gave up her job at a car company so she could take her son to coaching sessions and matches. The family enrolled him at the Australasia Cricket Academy when he was eight, and the hours added up. Coaching in Canada can cost as much as a hundred dollars an hour, and winters meant travelling to India to keep training. The century at Kirtipur was the return on that investment.

Samra made his senior Canada debut in March 2025 against the Netherlands, and his rise since then has been rapid. At the T20 World Cup in February 2026 he became the youngest batter to score a century in the tournament's history, hitting 110 from 65 balls against New Zealand at Chepauk at 19 years and 141 days. He also holds the Canadian record for the fastest fifty, from just 15 balls, and played for Vancouver Knights in the Global T20 Canada in 2024.

Before arriving in Nepal he played the European T20 Premier League for Amsterdam Flames, scoring 212 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 157.04, with a best of 73 from 32 balls against Glasgow Cosmic. Steve Smith, his team-mate at Amsterdam, praised his aggressive batting during the tournament. Samra said after the Karnali match that playing with experienced players, and his time in that European league, had taught him a great deal.

Pokhara signed him after losing their first three matches, and he has delivered at once. He scored a fifty in his first outing for the franchise and a century in his second, and he was named player of the match against Karnali. Two games into his NPL career, he already owns the highest score of the season.

What it means for the playoff race

For Pokhara, the win changes the shape of their season. They had lost their first four matches, to Sudurpaschim Royals by six wickets on 28 October, to Janakpur Bolts by nine runs on 1 November, to Lumbini Lions by eight wickets on 3 November, and to Chitwan Rhinos by 30 runs on 6 November. The defeats had cost them their captain, with Karunaratne taking over, and forced a rethink of the squad.

The win also repaired some of the damage to Pokhara's net run rate, which had been the worst in the league at minus 1.679 before the match. Two points from five matches still leaves them at the foot of the table, but they are no longer cut adrift, and two wins from their remaining two matches would take them to six points and into the playoff conversation.

Samra made the target clear after the match. He said the team was playing good cricket and that if it kept this rhythm, the playoffs were within reach. Pokhara face Biratnagar Kings on Thursday, 12 November and finish against Kathmandu Gorkhas on Sunday, 15 November. Neither fixture will hold any fear for them after the way they dismantled Karnali.

The result also tightens the race behind the top two. Lumbini Lions lead the table on seven points, Kathmandu Gorkhas and Sudurpaschim Royals have six each, Chitwan Rhinos have five, and Janakpur Bolts, Karnali Yaks and Biratnagar Kings all sit on four. With the league stage entering its final week, every heavy defeat now carries a cost in net run rate as well as points.

Pokhara signed Samra to rescue a season that was slipping away. Two matches in, he has a fifty, a century and a win, and a dedication that told the crowd exactly who the hundred was for. If he keeps batting like this, the rescue may only just be starting.

FAQs

Who did Yuvraj Samra dedicate his NPL century to?

Yuvraj Samra dedicated his first NPL century to his mother and father. He said after the match that they had worked very hard for him and that wherever he was in cricket, the credit belonged to them.

How many runs did Yuvraj Samra score against Karnali Yaks?

Samra scored 102 off 48 balls against Karnali Yaks, with 10 fours and six sixes. He reached his fifty in 23 balls and his hundred in 45 balls, and it was the first century of NPL Season 3.

What is Yuvraj Samra's background before the NPL?

Samra is a Canadian opener named after Indian great Yuvraj Singh by his father Baljit. At the T20 World Cup in February 2026 he became the youngest batter to score a century in the tournament, hitting 110 against New Zealand, and he played the European T20 Premier League for Amsterdam Flames before joining Pokhara.

What does the win mean for Pokhara's playoff chances?

Pokhara move to 2 points from five matches after their first win of the season. They face Biratnagar Kings on 12 November and Kathmandu Gorkhas on 15 November, and Samra said the team can reach the playoffs if it keeps playing the way it did against Karnali.