By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu – Player of the match Dipendra Singh Airee inspired Nepal to a 3 wickets victory over the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 champions Scotland at TU Cricket Ground on Friday.
Scotland’s Inning
Invited to bat first, Scotland scored 274/9 in the allocated 50 overs. The Scottish were under pressure before Michael Leask stepped in as the seventh batsman and smashed a quick-fire century to help Scotland collect the heavyweight total.
With Scotland benching their regular openers Kyle Coetzer and George Munsey, Christopher McBrid and Richie Berrington opened with the innings. While Christopher (22), and Richie (19) departed early, Sandeep Lamichhane sent off Tomas Mackintosh and Matthew Cross for 19 and 2 runs in 14.5 and 16.1 overs respectively.
Brandon McMullen (22), and Chris Greaves were the other batters to get dismissed early. Michael Leask then stepped in the crease to play a 107-not-out inning facing 85 deliveries. The number seven batsman, Michael struck 9 sixes and 3 fours off his bat to collect the total. Furthermore, Jack Jarvis 26, Mark Watt 20, and Chris Sole added 5 runs further.
Sandeep Lamichhane was the pick of Nepal’s bowler claiming 3-27 from 10 overs. Moreover, Kushal Malla took a couple of wickets whereas Sompal Kami, Kushal Bhurtel, and Dipendra Singh Airee claimed one apiece.
Nepal’s Inning
In return, Nepal, inspired by Kushal Malla (81), and Dipendra Singh Airee* (85) chased the winning target of 275 runs in 47 overs losing 7 wickets. While the top-order batters struggled, middle-order batsmen, Kushal and Dipednra stole the show.
Kushal Bhurtel (16) was only the batter to score in the double figures before Kushal Malla took over the crease as the fifth batsman. Aasif Sheikh (9), Gyanendra Malla (4), and Rohit Paudel left the crease for 6 runs.
Malla then dominated Scottish bowlers scoring 81 off 67 balls with 9 fours and 4 sixers. Sundeep Jora (5), and Gulsan Jha (17) were the other Nepali batsman displaying below-par performance. Moreover, Sompal Kami* added 24 runs to the tally.
While Michael Leask of Scotland took a wicket, Chris Sole and Mark Watt claimed 3 wickets each.
