Kathmandu Gorkhas Beat Biratnagar Kings by 9 Wickets — Santosh Yadav Takes 3 for 11, David Warner Finishes It in 9.4 Overs

The morning game at Kirtipur ran the full forty overs. The afternoon one was settled before the drinks break. Kathmandu Gorkhas chose to field, and by the tenth over Biratnagar Kings, a side with Angelo Mathews and Andre Russell in the middle order, were 35 for 7. They were all out for 83.

David Warner then made the chase look like a net session. He hit 44 not out off 24 balls, William Bosisto kept him company with 23 not out, and Kathmandu Gorkhas won by 9 wickets with 62 balls remaining. The two innings together lasted 28.1 overs.

Kathmandu used six bowlers and every one of them took a wicket. Jahandad Khan had Shehan Jayasuriya caught by Rashid Khan in the second over, Karan KC removed Imran Sheikh for 0, and Shahab Alam had Lokesh Bam caught at 20. The powerplay ended on 23 for 3, and Shahab finished with 1 for 13 from his four overs.

The innings fell apart either side of the eighth over. Sahan Arachchige bowled Basir Ahamad and had Narayan Joshi caught off consecutive balls at 29, Santosh Yadav had Shubham Ranjane caught by Bosisto at 30, and Dev Shah removed Russell for 3 at 35. Four wickets had gone for six runs. Arachchige bowled only two overs, for seven runs.

The chase needed little explanation. Sahil Patel was bowled by Aprajit Poudel at 17 in the third over, and then Warner took over. He hit two fours and three sixes, the powerplay brought 48 for 1, and the second-wicket pair added 69 off 43 balls. Kathmandu did not even need Rashid Khan to bowl. He took a catch and watched the rest.

Biratnagar's top seven made 43 between them. Mathews came in early and stayed, but his 22 took 31 balls, and the only stand of note came after the collapse, when Rupesh Singh joined him and they added 39 for the eighth wicket. Rupesh's 26 off 27, with three fours and a six, was the top score. Santosh Yadav ended that stand by bowling Mathews at 74 and then had Rupesh lbw at 79, a decision Biratnagar reviewed and lost on umpire's call. Jahandad caught and bowled Aprajit Poudel to finish it in the 19th over.

Defending 83, they needed early wickets and got one. Jayasuriya bowled four tidy overs for 19, but Russell's one over cost 14, Lamichhane's two went for 20, and Imran Sheikh's four balls cost 14 as the game was closed out. There was not much more the bowlers could have done with so few runs to work with.

It would be tempting to blame the pitch for 83 all out, but the same surface gave Kathmandu 86 for 1 in under ten overs, and earlier in the day both sides had passed 130. Our preview said the afternoon session at Kirtipur tends to slow down and reward variations, and the Kathmandu bowlers certainly found something to work with. But the second innings suggests the bigger factor was how Biratnagar batted, not what the pitch was doing.

Santosh Yadav's figures were 3 overs, 3 for 11, and each wicket came at a moment that mattered. The first, Ranjane, made it six down in the ninth over. The second broke the only partnership Biratnagar managed, bowling Mathews just as the Kings were edging towards three figures. The third, Rupesh, ended the last real resistance. Warner's innings was the more eye-catching, but by the time he walked out the game had already been won, and Yadav had done a great deal of the winning.

Our preview did not pick a winner. It called the sides evenly matched, expected a tactical battle, and said the Kings' batting had the firepower to post big totals at Kirtipur. That last line aged badly: Biratnagar were bowled out for 83, and this was not a close contest in any sense. We did say the team that managed the middle overs better would likely take the two points, and that the afternoon surface would reward variations. Biratnagar lost four wickets for six runs between the eighth and tenth overs, so on that narrow point we were right. On the overall shape of the game, we were not.

Kathmandu Gorkhas now have four points from three games and a net run rate of +1.133, the best of the sides on four points, which puts them second behind Lumbini Lions. The two meet next, at Kirtipur on November 7, the unbeaten leaders against the side in second. Biratnagar Kings are also on four points, but from five games, with two wins and three defeats, and their net run rate has dropped to -0.820. They have played more games than most of the sides around them, and a defeat like this one will make the margins harder to recover.