It has only been two editions that the Men’s PM Cup saw all teams in a single league structure. Previously, the teams were divided into two groups and the top two teams from each group would qualify for the semi-final.

In the first edition in 2017, the three departmental clubs—Nepal Police Club (NPC), Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) and Armed Police Force (APF) Club—were accompanied by the five development regions.

In the first edition, the Eastern Development Region, now Koshi Province, lost their two group-stage games while one ended without result. Eight teams were then divided into two groups.

Koshi, then Province No. 1, registered their first win of the tournament in the second edition in 2018 while losing the other three games. The second edition saw ten teams—three departmental and seven provincial—divided into a group of five each.

Province No. 1 produced a similar result in the next three editions—2019, 2021 and 2022—as they emerged victorious in only one of the four group-stage games. They defeated Karnali in 2019 and 2021, and Bagmati in 2022.

But when the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) amended the tournament format in the sixth edition and decided to organise a single league for all 10 teams, Koshi were expected to improve their result.

During the sixth edition (2024), Province No. 1, which had already been christened Koshi, failed to register more than one win.

Koshi’s only win last year came against Lumbini. Lumbini were also the only team with a single win last edition, having won against Gandaki.

And in this edition, Koshi’s only win came over Gandaki. It was a record win for Koshi as they had bundled out Gandaki for the second-ever lowest total in PM Cup history. Gandaki were all out for 31 runs against Koshi on March 16, a target Koshi chased in 8.2 overs, losing only one wicket.

Nevertheless, Koshi, on Wednesday, raised hope for a second win in their last game of this edition posting their highest-ever total in the tournament, that too against the departmental side APF. Koshi, batting first, gave APF a target of 255 runs at Siddhartha Cricket Stadium.

A 90-run first-wicket partnership, opening non-striker Shakib Haq’s 68 off 33, and the other top five batters in the lineup scoring 30+ runs helped Koshi to their biggest total yet.

Koshi were looking forward to silencing the critics by defeating two-time PM Cup champions APF. However, coming down the order, in at eight, Lokesh Bam took APF to the win with a not-out knock of 84 off 54. APF chased the target with two wickets and 32 balls remaining. Skipper Paudel also contributed 61 off 73.

Koshi will now be returning to the tournament next edition. However, they showed some improvements. The total against APF was not the only individual record for Koshi in this edition.

Of the nine games in 2025, Koshi batted first only twice. The other instance in which they batted first was against TAC on March 15, and Koshi had set their highest total then as well. Koshi posted 230 runs against TAC before the record was created against APF on Wednesday.

Koshi’s third-highest total ever is 211 runs; it came against Sudurpaschim on March 23.

Defeating Koshi, third-placed APF equalled points with second-placed TAC after their seventh win of the tournament, and kept hopes alive for a Top 2 finish. However, a competitive game with Koshi disallowed APF to better their net run rate. Thus, TAC should lose in extremely shameful numbers to NPC in their last league game on Thursday for APF to have a shot at the final. Or else, TAC will enter the final even with a loss on March 27.

While Extratech Cricket Oval is hosting the NPC vs TAC fixture, Siddhartha Stadium will see Madhesh facing Bagmati. The two games will mark the end of the 19-day long league stage where the 10 teams played 45 games in total.