Yuvraaj Samra — the century that lit up Pokhara’s season

The season’s only century

Yuvraaj Samra scored 102 off 48 balls for Pokhara Avengers against Karnali Yaks in Match 19 — the only century of NPL Season 3 so far — and was named Player of the Match as Pokhara won by 63 runs. He has 121 runs in just two matches.

Batter. He was not in Pokhara’s pre-season verified squad list — he is one of four players who have appeared for the Avengers this season without being in that list — but two matches have been enough to make him the most talked-about batter in the league.

The first of them was quiet. Against Chitwan Rhinos in Match 17, on 6 November, he made 19 off 14 balls with four fours, and Pokhara lost by 30 runs. It was a start, nothing more — the kind of innings that gets forgotten by the next game.

The next game made sure it would not be forgotten. Against Karnali Yaks in Match 19, on Monday 9 November, Samra made 102 off 48 balls — ten fours and six sixes — and Pokhara made 217 for 3, the highest total of the season. Kushal Bhurtel made 62 off 39 in support, and Chamika Karunaratne finished 35 not out off 11 balls, but the innings belonged to Samra. Karnali were bowled out for 154, Pokhara won by 63 runs, and Samra was named Player of the Match. No other batter has reached three figures all season, and no other side has passed 200.

Season 3 in numbers

Two matches, 121 runs at an average of 60.50, and a strike rate of 195.2. Yuvraaj Samra has faced 62 balls in Season 3 — and 102 of his runs came in a single evening.

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 boundary count is the innings in miniature: 14 fours and 6 sixes, worth 92 of his 121 runs. His strike rate of 195.2 is the second-best in the league among batters who have faced at least 30 balls, behind only Deepak Dumre’s 197.6. The fifty column in the table reads 1 — the season file counts his century there, as the only fifty-plus score of his two innings. It is the only hundred of the season, and it came in a side that had lost four matches in a row before it.

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 hundred, but the context is what makes it remarkable. Pokhara had won once in five matches and sat last in the league when Samra walked out in Match 19. Four of their five games had followed the same shape — totals of 145, 138, 97 and 121, never enough — and then one batter made 102 off 48 balls and the side made 217. It was the first time all season Pokhara looked like a side that could beat anyone, and it was built on a single innings.

The honest caveat is the sample: two matches, one of them a 19. Two more league games remain — Biratnagar Kings on Thursday 12 November and Kathmandu Gorkhas on Sunday 15 November — and the question is whether the century was the start of a run or a single evening. Pokhara need both wins to reach 6 points and stay in the playoff conversation, and they need Samra to do it again at least once.

Where the Avengers stand

Pokhara Avengers sit last in the NPL points table on 2 points from five matches — one win, four defeats, net run rate −0.707. Two league matches remain: Biratnagar Kings on Thursday 12 November at 12:30 PM NST (11:45 AM PKT, 6:45 AM UTC) and Kathmandu Gorkhas on Sunday 15 November at 4:30 PM NST (3:45 PM PKT, 10:45 AM UTC), both at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur. Two wins would take them to 6 points and leave them needing results elsewhere; 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.