By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu – Nepal’s national cricket team registered their third consecutive victory during their Sri Lanka tour on Thursday with an all-round performance by Karan KC. The practice matches in Sri Lanka are part of Nepal’s preparation for the upcoming ICC World Cricket League Division-2.
During Thursday’s practice match, Nepal registered a 144-run win over Sri Lanka Police. Chasing a target of 332 runs, Sri Lanka Police were all out in 36.5 overs with 187 runs on board.
Sri Lanka Police skipper C Silva topscored 64 runs off 65 balls that included 8 boundaries. Madushanka scored 50 runs off 44 balls while wicketkeeper Bevita was out for 37 runs. None of the other batsmen could perform well in the batting discipline.
Karan KC took 3 wickets for Nepal in his 6-over spell which included a maiden over. He gave away 20 runs. Spinner Sagar Dhakal and captain Sandeep Lamichhane took two wickets each.
Earlier, Nepal opted to bat first after winning the toss and posted 331 runs in 50 overs losing 8 wickets. Rohit Kumar Poudel topscored 72 runs off 77 balls for Nepal. Opener Kushal Bhurtel was run out on 57 runs. Aasif Sheikh and Kushal Burhtel played a 107-run partnership for the first wicket. Sheikh was bowled out by Raj Karuna with his personal score of 52 runs. Aarif Sheikh contributed 26 runs while Binod Bhandari (3), Bhim Sharki (2) and Pawan Sharraf (3) were dismissed cheaply.
Nepal’s lower-order batsmen including Karan KC and Kamal Singh Airee then steered the innings. The two played a crucial 102 run partnership for the eighth wicket to amass a big total for Nepal. Sri Lanka Police’s D Raj Karuna and T Sampath took 2 wickets each.
Nepal had defeated Sri Lanka Navy Sports Club by 111 runs in the first practice match and again beat the same team by 82 runs in the next match. Nepal will play the fourth and final practice match against Sri Lanka United XI on Friday.
Nepal is playing practice matches in Sri Lanka as a preparation for the ICC World Cricket League Division-2 to be held in the UAE next week.
Nepal will reach the UAE on March 14 to compete against the UAE and Papua New Guinea under the World Cup League-2 from March 16 to March 22.
Nepal is sixth in the ICC World Cup League-2 with four wins and four losses in eight matches. The World Cup League-2 will run until 2023 and the top three teams in the league will directly qualify for the ODI World Cup to be held in the same year. Other four teams will have to compete in the play-off to secure a place in the ODI World Cup.
Nepal’s Match Schedule during UAE visit:
March 16: Vs Papua New Guinea, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
March 18: Vs UAE, Dubai International Cricket Stadium
March 21: Vs UAE, Dubai
March 22: Vs Papua New Guinea, Dubai
