Defending champions of last year’s first Nepal Premier League (NPL) season, Janakpur Bolts, have suffered their third consecutive defeat this year. On Thursday, Pokhara Avengers defeated Janakpur Bolts by 25 runs, claiming their first victory of the season.

With this win, Pokhara added 2 points and climbed to sixth place on the points table, while Janakpur remain winless at the bottom.

In the second match on Thursday—the 14th match of the season—Pokhara won the toss and opted to bat first, setting a target of 165 runs for Janakpur.

In response, Janakpur could score only 130 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

For Pokhara, Sumit Verma remained unbeaten with a brilliant 50 runs off 29 balls. Dinesh Kharel contributed 38 runs, Adam Rossington added 24, and Tirtharaj Dash scored 29 runs.

During Janakpur’s chase, Ben Parney scored 50 runs off 38 balls, while Sanjay Krishnamoorthi made 25, Maaz Sadaqat 14, and Lalit Rajbanshi 10. No other batter managed to reach double figures.

Pokhara’s bowlers dominated the innings, especially Bipin Khatri, whose impressive spell dismantled Janakpur’s batting lineup. Bowling 4 overs, he conceded only 15 runs and took key wickets of Aasif Sheikh, Anish Shah, and Shubh Kansakar. Kusal Bhurtel and James Neesham also took one wicket each.

Pokhara’s strong all-round performance helped them rise in the standings, while Janakpur Bolts continue to struggle in their title defense.