By a Staff Reporter
Following the deplorable batting, Nepal lost to Namibia by 63 runs in the ICC World Cup League-2 Tri Series ODI. With the second consecutive vanquish against Namibia, Nepal has fallen to the sixth position in the competition points table.
Chasing a winning target of 200 runs for victory, Nepal was all out for 136 runs in 37.5 overs. Dipendra Singh Aire scored the highest run for Nepal (38) in 55 balls including 3 fours.
Opener Kushal Bhurtel was caught for zero by Ruben Trumpelmann on the fourth ball of Jan Frylinck’s first over. Likewise, On the third ball of Frylinck ‘s fifth over, Dev Khanal was caught by Ben Shikongo for 1 run.
Asif Sheikh got caught out for 34 runs by captain Gerhard Erasmus off spinner Bernard Scholtz second ball of the 14th over. Sheikh hit 6 fours in 32 balls. Vice Captain Rohit was dismissed for 17 runs in the fourth ball of Scholtz’s 19th over.
In 23.1 overs, a 36-run partnership shared by Dipendra Singh Aire and Adil Ansari signaled that Nepal would return to the game. But then Ansari was caught out by JJ Smit for 20 runs. Ansari hit 2 fours and 1 six from the 30 balls he faced. Nepal’s opportunity to take revenge against Namibia seemed to be questionable after Aire was run out in the fifth ball of the 35th over.
While Pawan Saraf remained unbeaten on 10 runs, Sompal Kami got out for 1 and Basir Ahmed as well as captain Sandeep Lamichhane went off the crease for zero. Namibian spinner Bernard Scholtz took 5 wickets giving away 22 runs with 2 maidens in 9.5 overs. Jan Frylinck took 2 wickets with 2 maidens in 10 overs giving away 26 runs.
Namibia, who won the toss elected to bat first at Cambusdoon New Ground, Ayr got all out for 199 runs in 49.2 overs. Namibian captain Erasmus scored 53 runs off 70 balls with 4 fours and 1 six. Despite a poor start, Erasmus and Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton put on a partnership of 68 runs to bring Namibia back into the game.
Captain Sandip Lamichhane bowled Nicol for 19 runs that broke the partnership of Erasmus and Nicol. Fast bowler Sompal Kami bowled opener Lo-handre Louwrens for 2 runs in the first ball of the second over. Likewise, Lamichhane bowled Namibia’s leading batsman Craig Williams for 5 runs in the first ball of the seventh over.
Sompal bowled out Devin La Cock for 27 runs in the first ball of the tenth over. Frylinck was bowled out by Lamichhane for 3 runs. JJ Smit was caught out by Dev Khanal for 27 runs off 34 balls with 2 sixes and 1 four. While trying to hit a second sixer in the third ball of the 37th over off Basir Ahmed, Smit got caught by Khanal.
On the fifth ball of the 46th over, David Wiese got an unfortunate run out for 34 runs. With his dismissal, Namibia was not able to score more than 5 runs.
Skipper Lamichhane took 4 wickets with 2 maidens in 10 overs at the expense of 29 runs. Sompal Kami took 2 wickets giving away 33 runs in 10 overs. Dipendra Singh Aire took 2 wickets giving away 9 runs in 3.2 overs. Basir Ahmed took 1 wicket giving away 49 runs in 9 overs.
Nepal lost its first match against Namibia by 40 runs and defeated Scotland by 5 wickets in its second match. Nepal will play its last match against Scotland on Sunday. With a loss this evening, Nepal has stepped down to sixth position with 17 points from 19 matches that includes 10 losses and 8 wins. Namibia climbed to fifth with 18 points from 18 matches with 9 wins and 9 losses.
Nepali Team:
Sandip Lamichhane (Captain), Rohit Paudel (Vice-Captain), Asif Sheikh (Wicket Keeper), Kushal Bhurtel, Dev Khanal, Dipendra Singh Aire, Aarif Sheikh, Karan KC, Sompal Kami, Adil Ansari, Basir Ahamed, Kishore Mahato, Pawan Sharaf and Binod Bhandari (Wicket Keeper).
Nepal’s fixture for Scotland Tour:
July 17 – Nepal VS Scotland
