KATHMANDU: Captain Dipendra Singh Airee took 4 wickets for just 23 runs and scored 39 runs in 28 balls to lead from the front in securing the third straight win for his team, Sudurpaschim Royals today.

In the day-night match held at TU International Cricket Stadium, Sudurpaschim defended 139 runs to defeat Karnali Yaks by 45 runs, and get back to the top of the points table with 6 points in three matches.

Chasing the victory target of 140 runs set by Sudurpaschim, Karnali Yaks were bowled out for 94 runs in 19.2 overs. Pawan Saraf top-scored for Karnali with 27 runs, while Mark Watt scored 17, captain Sompal Kami scored 14, and Gulshan Jha scored 13 runs.

For the bowling side, in addition to captain Airee‘ four wickets Harmit Singh and Abhinash Bohra took two wickets each.

Earlier, put into bat first, Sudurpachim scored 139 runs at the loss of 9 wickets in 20 overs. Captain Airee was the highest scorer with 38 runs followed by Aarif Sheikh who scored 27 runs while Harmit Singh contributed 19 runs to the total.

For Karnali, Captain Sompal Kami took 3 wickets for 32 runs in 4 overs while Nandan Yadav took 2 wickets giving away only 11 runs in 3 overs. Mark Watt, Bipin Sharma and Yubaraj Khatri took 1 wicket each.

Following the loss today, Karnali Yaks have just 2 points after a win in three matches, and remain in the sixth position in the second edition of the NPL 2025, a franchise-based tournament hosted by Cricket Association of Nepal.

Earlier, in the first match of the day held in the same venue and pitch, Biratnagar Kings defended 135 runs to defeat Janakpur bolts by 9 runs. Biratnagar remain in the second position, with equal points to Sudurpaschim, but behind by net run rate.

Tomorrow, Kathmandu Gorkhas will face Lumbini Lions in the match to begin at 4:00 pm at the same venue.