Moeen’s 58 Seals Janakpur’s First Win Over Kathmandu

Janakpur Bolts have their first win of Season 3, and it came with room to spare. Chasing 116 against Kathmandu Gorkhas at TU Ground, Kirtipur, on Thursday, 29 October 2026, Janakpur reached 116 for 2 in 17.2 overs to win by eight wickets, with 16 balls still unused. Moeen Ali finished unbeaten on 58 off 51 balls, debutant Saif Ali Zaib made 40 not out off 39, and Rahul Yadav’s four wickets for 31 runs, the Player of the Match performance, had earlier kept Kathmandu to 115 all out. For Kathmandu, still waiting on David Warner, it was a first match and a first defeat — and an empty points column to start the season.

Result	Janakpur Bolts won by 8 wickets, 16 balls remaining
Scores	Kathmandu 115/10 (19.3 ov); Janakpur 116/2 (17.2 ov)
Best batting	Moeen Ali, 58 not out off 51 balls
Best bowling	Rahul Yadav, 4 for 31 (Player of the Match)
Venue	TU Ground, Kirtipur — Thursday, 29 October 2026, 12:30 PM NST
Next matches	Janakpur vs Pokhara, 1 Nov 5:00 PM NST; Kathmandu vs Karnali, 2 Nov 12:30 PM NST

Kathmandu’s 115 falls apart

Kathmandu won the toss and batted first, and the decision did not survive contact with Rahul Yadav. The Gorkhas were bowled out for 115 in 19.3 overs, with Bhim Sharki’s 33 off 29 balls the top score and six extras the only other meaningful contribution. Captain Karan KC made 8 off 18 balls, Jahandad Khan made 5 off 8, and Shahab Alam finished unbeaten on 4 off 6.

Rahul Yadav took four wickets for 31 runs, and Saif Ali Zaib took two for 11 before his batting heroics. The Kathmandu XI again had no David Warner, whose signing had still not arrived, and no K.S. Bharat, Arachchige or Bosisto either. The side that took the field was the side that had to win on its own, and it could not reach 120.

Moeen and Saif finish it with 16 balls left

Janakpur’s chase wobbled early and then never wobbled again. Trit Raj Das fell for 5 with the score on 7, and Mayan Yadav was run out for 9 with the score on 37 — two wickets down, and Kathmandu had a sniff. Then Moeen Ali and Saif Ali Zaib put together an unbroken 79-run third-wicket stand that ended the match as a contest.

Moeen finished unbeaten on 58 off 51 balls, with three fours and three sixes, and Saif, on debut, made an unbeaten 40 off 39 balls. Ripon Mondol was the only Kathmandu bowler to take a wicket, finishing with one for 17, and Janakpur reached 116 for 2 in 17.2 overs. Sixteen balls were still left when the winning runs came. It was the first game of Thursday’s double-header, and Janakpur’s first win since their opening-day defeat to Karnali.

First win, and a warning for the rest

The win moved Janakpur to two points from two matches and fourth place, after their opening defeat to Karnali. After five matches, five sides sat on two points and three were still waiting for their first win, so the early table was as tight as the format allows. For a side carrying Moeen Ali only for the early matches of the season, every win matters twice — once for the points, once for the momentum before his departure.

Kathmandu, meanwhile, stayed on zero points, with their captain short of runs and their biggest signing still absent. The camp talk after this match pointed towards the Karnali game on 2 November as a possible arrival point for Warner — talk, not confirmation, and Kathmandu cannot plan around a maybe. Their next match is that Karnali game, on 2 November at 12:30 PM NST, while Janakpur meet Pokhara Avengers on 1 November at 5:00 PM NST, both at Kirtipur.