First-innings scoring in the Nepal Premier League has fallen by 10.4% from last season, with batters struggling repeatedly at Kirtipur after the ground's pre-season wicket rebuild.

Through Match 25, teams batting first have averaged 140.7 in NPL 2026—compared with 157 in 2025 and 146 in the inaugural edition in 2024. The comparison covers the first 25 scheduled fixtures in each edition; in 2026 the abandoned Match 7 and the five-over Match 8 are excluded, leaving 23 qualifying games.

The latest sequence has been particularly demanding. Across Matches 21–25, first-innings totals were 120, 132, 105, 125, and 88—an average of just 114. The corresponding five games averaged 145.6 in 2024 and 162.2 in 2025.

Four first innings this season have finished below 100—and neither previous edition had a single first-innings total below 100 in its opening 25 fixtures. The four came from four different teams: Sudurpaschim Royals made 87 in the opener, Pokhara Avengers finished on 97/9 in Match 13, Biratnagar Kings were dismissed for 83 in Match 15, and Janakpur Bolts managed 88/9 in Match 25. This season has also produced nine first innings below 130, while the lowest first-innings total in the corresponding 2025 sample was 130.

Small totals are still winning games.

Low scores have not meant one-sided games. Sudurpaschim Royals defended 120 against Janakpur on 10 November, winning by 27 runs, and three days later recovered from 8/4 to make 125/6 against Kathmandu Gurkhas and won by seven runs—the Match 24 scorecard tells that story. Lumbini Lions lost six wickets chasing Karnali Yaks' 105 in Match 23, and Chitwan Rhinos needed 17.2 overs and lost six wickets to get past Janakpur's 88 in the Match 25 scorecard.

Overall, teams batting first have won 12 of the 23 qualifying games this season, while chasing sides have won 11 — the contest is closely divided, but the totals are smaller on both sides. The average second-innings final total is 130.1 this season, down from 142.6 in 2025.

Spin is deciding matches.

Spin has taken a central role. Sandeep Lamichhane took 6/27 to dismiss Pokhara for 132 in Match 22. In Match 25, Chitwan's Ranjeet Kumar took 3/2 from three overs, and Sikandar Raza conceded just 10 from four overs while taking two wickets—and Janakpur's spinners made the chase difficult too, with Rahul Yadav taking three wickets and Lalit Rajbanshi two. After Match 24, Dipendra Singh Airee said the assistance for spin had prompted Sudurpaschim to include an extra spinner, and Raza said Chitwan had wanted to use as much spin as possible before dew could reduce the turn.

Dawid Malan, Player of the Match in Match 25 for his unbeaten 35 off 39 balls, summed up the batting challenge at the presentation: "On these wickets, you need a bit of luck." He joked that he had a better chance of winning the lottery than scoring consistently at the ground.

The rebuild behind the numbers

Kirtipur's square was rebuilt for the first time since 2020 before this season, with damaged soil removed before turf was relaid. Curator Madhu Tamang's team ideally needed four months for the grass roots to reach the depth required to bind the surface—roughly two and a half months remained before the 26 October opener.

There has still been room for attacking batting. David Miller hit seven sixes in an unbeaten 93 off 55 balls on debut, although Karnali still lost to Sudurpaschim by 39 runs, and Yuvraj Samra's 102 off 48 balls helped Pokhara reach 217/3 against Karnali in Match 19—the season's only total above 200 through Match 25. There were two first-innings totals of 200 or more at the same stage in 2025, and none in 2024.

For the league, the question is how consistently its surfaces allow batters to play their shots while rewarding good bowling. The comparison with 2024 shows small totals have been part of the NPL before—but the fall from 2025, four first innings below 100, and the recent average of 114 give the organizers a specific set of results to examine before the playoffs, which begin on 17 November as per the NPL 2026 schedule. Check the latest standings on the NPL 2026 points table and follow the remaining matches on the NPL 2026 live scores page.

How the three seasons compare

Source: CricNepal calculations from fixture results and completed scorecards.