In the Siddhartha Bank Nepal Premier League (NPL) on Sunday, Kathmandu Gorkhas defeated Karnali Yaks by five wickets, moving closer to securing a playoff spot.

Karnali currently has eight points, while the Sudurpashchim Royals, who had already qualified for the playoffs, have ten points. This loss makes Karnali’s playoff journey more challenging, having won only one out of five matches so far. With just two points, Karnali now needs to win its remaining games against Pokhara and Janakpur and rely on other match results to qualify.

In Sunday’s match, Karnali batted first and set a target of 150 runs, losing seven wickets. Gulshan Jha remained unbeaten on 49, while Nandan Yadav scored 1* and also took three wickets in Kathmandu’s innings. Other notable contributions included Pawan Sarraf (35), Mark Watt (30), Akash Tripathi (8), Rasid Khan (0), Melind Kumar (15), Priyank Panchal (0), William Basisto (1), Najibullah Zadran (12), Captain Sompal Kami (6), and Deepak Dumre (10).

Chasing 150, Kathmandu reached the target in 18 overs for the loss of five wickets. Lachlan Simpson scored 41 runs off 21 balls, Gerhard contributed 43, and Bhim Sarki remained unbeaten on 6. Rasid Khan scored 0 but took 2 wickets, while Pawan Sarraf, Melind Kumar, and Santosh Yadav took one wicket each for Karnali.

With this win, Kathmandu Gorkhas strengthen their position for the playoffs, while Karnali faces an uphill battle to keep their playoff hopes alive.