By a Staff Reporter
Following the substandard batting performance Nepal lost the ICC World Cup League 2 Tri Series match against Namibia by 40 runs. With the defeat on Monday, Nepal went one step down to sixth place in the tournament points table.
Chasing a competitive target of 221 runs, Nepal were all out for just 180 runs in 46.5 overs. Nepal’s Arif Sheikh remained unbeaten on 50 runs from 84 balls. Arif’s fourth half century in ODI went on vain as he ran out of partner despite recovering Nepal from a tough situation.
Opener Asif Sheikh was out for 14 while his partner Kushal Bhurtel made 27. Asif was caught by Divan La Cock on fast bowler Jan Frylinck’s first ball of the eighth over. Likewise Kushal was stumped out by wicketkeeper Zane Green off Bernard Scholtz.
Kushal hit 2 fours and 1 six in 46 balls whereas Asif hit two fours in 20 balls. Vice Captain Rohit Poudel was run out without opening the score after a direct hit caught him short off the crease. Dipendra Singh Airee, on 4 runs was caught off David Wiese’s bowling. Dipendra has been out of form lately.
Similarly, Sompal Kami and Adil Ansari were out for 10 runs each. Nepal needed 56 runs in the last 42 balls with three wickets in hand. Karan KC had to leave the crease as he was caught by David Wiese in the third ball of the 44th over bowled by Ruben Trumpelmann which diminished chances of Nepal’s victory. Karan was dismissed for 19 runs off 11 balls with 2 fours and 1 six. Basir Ahmed was run out for 3 runs.
Namibia spinner Bernard Scholtz took 2 wickets giving away 27 runs in 10 overs. David Wiese took 2 wickets giving away 24 runs in 6.5 overs. Jan Frylinck took 2 wickets.
Namibia, who had won the toss and elected to bat first were all out for 220 in 47.3 overs. Namibia’s Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton scored 60 runs in 69 balls coming in at number six. He hit 5 fours and a six. Openers Lo-handre Louwrens and Divan la Cock shared 31 runs in 6.3 overs. Louwrens was bowled out for 18 by Karan KC. He struck 3 fours in 23 balls.
Cock, who started aggressively was LBW out by Captain Sandeep Lamichhane in the fourth ball of the 11th over. He was dismissed for 41 runs in 32 balls with 7 fours. Likewise Zane Green was stumped out by wicketkeeper Asif Sheikh off Sandeep.
Namibia’s key batsman Craig Williams was run out for 21 runs in 46 balls. Dipendra took the crucial wicket as he bowled out captain Gerhard Erasmus for 22 runs in the fifth ball of the 30th over.
JJ Smit and David Wiese were out scoring 17 and 18 runs respectively. Sandeep took 4 wickets giving away 54 runs in 10 overs. Sompal Kami took 2 wickets giving away 44 runs in 7 overs. Karan KC, Basir Ahmed and Dipendra Singh Airee took 1 wicket each.
Now, Nepal will play its second match against home side Scotland on Wednesday.
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 13 – Scotland VS Nepal
July 16 – Nepal VS Namibia
July 17 – Nepal VS Scotland
