Best Bowling Figures in NPL History: Shahab Alam’s 6/25 Tops the List

Only two bowlers have ever taken six wickets in a Nepal Premier League match, and both did it in unforgettable circumstances. Shahab Alam’s 6/25, complete with the league’s first hat-trick, stands as the best figures in NPL history, while William Bosisto’s 6/28 from the inaugural season held the record for a full year. Here are the best bowling figures in NPL history, plus every five-wicket haul the league has seen.

All figures cover the two completed NPL seasons, 2024 and 2025, played at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur. Season 3, which began on 26 October 2026, is not included.

Best Bowling Figures in NPL History: The Top 10

Rank	Bowler	Team	Figures	Opponent	Season
1	Shahab Alam	Kathmandu Gorkhas	6/25	Pokhara Avengers	2025
2	William Bosisto	Karnali Yaks	6/28	Pokhara Avengers	2024
3	Scott Kuggeleijn	Sudurpaschim Royals	5/18	—	2024
4	Sohail Tanvir	Chitwan Rhinos	5/21	Kathmandu Gurkhas	2024
4	Ranjit Kumar	Chitwan Rhinos	5/21	Biratnagar Kings	2025

The gap between the top two and the rest is striking. Only five bowlers have ever taken five or more wickets in an NPL innings, and two of them did it in the same fixture list as the record holders. Kirtipur’s surface has generally rewarded control over carnage, which makes the six-wicket hauls all the more remarkable.

Shahab Alam 6/25: The Hat-Trick That Made NPL History

Shahab Alam’s 6/25 for Kathmandu Gorkhas against Pokhara Avengers, in the 23rd match of the 2025 season on 4 December 2025, is the finest bowling performance the NPL has seen. Kathmandu had posted 165 for 8, with Ben Charlesworth scoring 64 and Bhim Sarki smashing 55 off 23 balls, and Pokhara needed 20 runs from the final over with wickets in hand.

Alam, a left-arm spinner who already had two wickets, bowled the final over himself. He removed the set batter Rishi Dhawan, who had scored 54 off 31 balls, caught by Milind Kumar off the first ball. Next ball, Bipin Khatri was stumped attempting a reverse sweep. The ball after that, Aakash Chand holed out to the same fielder, completing the first hat-trick in NPL history. Alam was not finished: off the final ball of the match he dismissed Sagar Dhakal, finishing with four wickets in the over and figures of 6/25. Kathmandu won by 13 runs, and Alam’s spell sent them through to the playoffs.

Remarkably, Alam did not win the Player of the Match award — that went to Bhim Sarki for his 55 off 23 balls. But history remembers the bowling figures, and 6/25 remains the benchmark every NPL bowler is chasing.

William Bosisto 6/28: The Record That Stood for a Year

Before Alam, the record belonged to William Bosisto of Karnali Yaks, who took 6/28 against Pokhara Avengers in the 17th match of the inaugural 2024 season. Bosisto had arrived in Nepal only on 4 December, after Karnali’s first match, and his record-breaking performance came in just his third game for the franchise.

His six victims tell the story of a complete dismantling: Kushal Bhurtel, Matthew Critchley, Dilip Nath, Michael Leask, Narayan Joshi and Raymon Reifer all fell to the Australian all-rounder. The haul surpassed the previous best of five wickets, which had been shared by three bowlers — Sohail Tanvir of Chitwan Rhinos, Naren Saud of Sudurpaschim Royals and Harsh Thaker of Janakpur Bolts — and it stood as the league record until Alam’s heroics a year later.

Every Five-Wicket Haul in NPL History

Bowler	Team	Figures	Opponent	Season
Shahab Alam	Kathmandu Gorkhas	6/25	Pokhara Avengers	2025
William Bosisto	Karnali Yaks	6/28	Pokhara Avengers	2024
Scott Kuggeleijn	Sudurpaschim Royals	5/18	—	2024
Sohail Tanvir	Chitwan Rhinos	5/21	Kathmandu Gurkhas	2024
Ranjit Kumar	Chitwan Rhinos	5/21	Biratnagar Kings	2025

Pokhara Avengers appear on the wrong end of both six-wicket hauls, which is a quirk of history rather than a weakness — the Avengers have also produced some of the league’s greatest batting. But it is notable that the two best bowling performances in NPL history both came against the same franchise.

Every Hat-Trick in NPL History

Only two hat-tricks have been taken in the NPL, and both came in the 2025 season within nine days of each other. Shahab Alam’s was the first in league history, against Pokhara Avengers on 4 December 2025. The second came in the biggest match of all: Lumbini Lions captain Rohit Paudel removed Sudurpaschim Royals captain Dipendra Singh Airee, Dipak Bohara and Puneet Mehra off successive deliveries in the 11th over of the 2025 final on 13 December 2025, finishing with figures of 3/12 as the Royals collapsed to 85 all out. Paudel’s hat-trick was the first ever taken in an NPL final.

Bowler	Team	Victims	Opponent	Date
Shahab Alam	Kathmandu Gorkhas	Rishi Dhawan, Bipin Khatri, Aakash Chand	Pokhara Avengers	4 December 2025
Rohit Paudel	Lumbini Lions	Dipendra Singh Airee, Dipak Bohara, Puneet Mehra	Sudurpaschim Royals	13 December 2025

The 2024 Five-Wicket Hauls

Before Bosisto’s 6/28, the best bowling in the league belonged to three bowlers who had each taken five wickets in the inaugural season. Sohail Tanvir of Chitwan Rhinos took 5/21 against Kathmandu, while Naren Saud of Sudurpaschim Royals and Harsh Thaker of Janakpur Bolts also recorded five-wicket hauls. Those three spells set the early benchmark for bowling excellence in the NPL — and Bosisto’s six wickets, followed a year later by Alam’s 6/25, showed how quickly that benchmark could be raised.

Best Bowling Figures in the 2025 Season

Alam’s 6/25 led the 2025 season by a distance. Behind him, Ranjit Kumar’s 5/21 for Chitwan Rhinos against Biratnagar Kings was the only other five-wicket haul of the season, and it held the season record until Alam’s final-over heroics in December. The next-best figures of 2025 were Sandeep Lamichhane’s 4/11 for Biratnagar Kings, a spell that underlined why the Nepal captain finished the season as joint-leading wicket-taker with 17 wickets at an economy rate of just 4.92.

What Makes a Great Spell at Kirtipur?

Both six-wicket hauls share a pattern: spinners and clever seamers thriving under pressure at the death. Alam’s hat-trick came defending 20 runs in the final over, while Bosisto’s six wickets broke the back of a chase. Kirtipur’s surface, which has hosted every NPL match, tends to slow up as games progress, rewarding bowlers who vary their pace and hit the pitch hard. The bowlers who have mastered those conditions — Alam, Bosisto, Kuggeleijn and Sandeep Lamichhane — are the ones who own the record books.

Season 3 will test whether anyone can go further. A seven-wicket haul has never been taken in the NPL, and with the league’s batting firepower growing every year, the bowlers’ job is only getting harder. The NPL 2026 squads show the leading wicket-takers all returning, and the NPL 2026 today match page follows every fixture as the next record spell approaches.

FAQs: Best Bowling Figures in NPL

What are the best bowling figures in NPL history?

Shahab Alam’s 6/25 for Kathmandu Gorkhas against Pokhara Avengers in December 2025.

Who has taken a hat-trick in the NPL?

Two bowlers: Shahab Alam, who removed Rishi Dhawan, Bipin Khatri and Aakash Chand in consecutive balls in the final over against Pokhara Avengers in 2025, and Rohit Paudel, who dismissed Dipendra Singh Airee, Dipak Bohara and Puneet Mehra in successive deliveries in the 2025 final against Sudurpaschim Royals.

How many six-wicket hauls have there been in the NPL?

Two: William Bosisto’s 6/28 in 2024 and Shahab Alam’s 6/25 in 2025, both against Pokhara Avengers.

Who took the most wickets in a single NPL match before Alam?

William Bosisto, whose 6/28 for Karnali Yaks in 2024 stood as the league record for a full year.