Ariful Islam — Karnali’s leading run-scorer

Karnali’s leading run-scorer

Ariful Islam leads Karnali Yaks’ batting in NPL Season 3 with 143 runs in five matches — and he has done it at a strike rate of 183.3, with 12 sixes, more than any other Karnali batter. His best is 44 against Kathmandu Gorkhas in Match 10.

Batter. He was not in Karnali’s pre-season verified squad list — he is one of six players who have appeared for the Yaks this season without being in that list — but the scorecards leave no doubt about his place in the side: he has batted in all five of Karnali’s matches, and nobody in the team has scored more.

He announced himself on the first day he played. Against Janakpur Bolts in Match 3, on 27 October, he made 43 off 29 balls with four sixes, and Karnali won by 19 runs. Two days later, against Biratnagar Kings in Match 6, he made 32 off just 12 balls — three fours and three sixes — in a four-wicket win. That is the shape of his season: short, violent innings that set the tone before the middle order takes over.

The best of them came against Kathmandu Gorkhas in Match 10, on 2 November: 44 off 22 balls, five fours and three sixes. Karnali lost that one by four wickets, chasing, and the innings still stands as his highest score of the season. The two quiet games since have been a duck — two balls against Sudurpaschim Royals in Match 16, a 39-run defeat — and 24 off 13 against Pokhara Avengers in Match 19, when his side lost by 63 runs. He has yet to reach fifty, but no Karnali batter has hit the ball cleaner.

Season 3 in numbers

Five matches, 143 runs at an average of 28.60, and a strike rate of 183.3. Ariful Islam has faced only 78 balls all season — fewer than a full match’s worth of batting — and 12 of the 78 have gone for six.

Season 3 figures cover every completed match through Match 21 (the abandoned Match 7 produced no play), compiled from the published match scorecards and updated 10 November 2026.

He has not bowled in Season 3 — there is no bowling entry for him in the season record, so the numbers above are batting only.

The split between fours and sixes tells the story: 12 sixes against 10 fours. He clears the rope more often than he finds the gap, and 72 of his 143 runs have come in sixes alone. His strike rate of 183.3 is the fifth-best in the league among batters who have faced at least 30 balls — behind Deepak Dumre, Yuvraaj Samra, Sahan Arachchige and Andre Russell, and ahead of every other Karnali batter by a distance. Pawan Sarraf, second in Karnali’s run chart on 140, strikes at 105.3.

Match by match

Every innings and every spell, in match order. An asterisk means not out. Full scores for every game are on the NPL Results page.

What the numbers mean

The headline is the speed, but the shape of the innings matters too. Four of his five knocks have come at better than a run a ball and a half, and three of them — 43, 32 and 44 — were the kind of start that wins a powerplay. Karnali’s problem is that the starts have not turned into totals: in the two matches where he passed 40, the Yaks won one and lost one, and in the two matches where he failed early, they lost both. A top order that leans this hard on one man’s first ten balls is always one good delivery from trouble.

There is also the question of what comes next. He has faced 78 balls and never once been asked to rebuild an innings — every knock has been played at full tilt from the first ball. That is a luxury Karnali can afford while he is scoring, and a risk the moment he is not. The duck in Match 16 is the warning: two balls, no runs, and the innings never recovered its shape.

Where the Yaks stand

Karnali Yaks sit seventh in the NPL points table on 4 points from five matches — two wins, three defeats, net run rate −0.846. Two league matches remain: Lumbini Lions on Thursday 12 November at 4:30 PM NST (3:45 PM PKT, 10:45 AM UTC) and Chitwan Rhinos on Sunday 15 November at 12:30 PM NST (11:45 AM PKT, 6:45 AM UTC), both at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur. Two wins would take them to 8 points and keep them in the playoff conversation; anything less ends the season on Sunday.

The playoffs follow the league stage: Qualifier 1 on Tuesday 17 November, the Eliminator on Wednesday 18 November, Qualifier 2 on Thursday 19 November and the final on Saturday 21 November, all at 4:30 PM NST at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur.