By a Staff Reporter
Hosts Kenya defeated visitors Nepal by 18 runs in the second match of the T20I series at Gymkhana Club Ground in Nairobi. With this, the 5 T20I series has reached a tie of 1-1. Earlier in the first match, Nepal thrashed Kenya by 5 wickets.
Nepal, who won the toss and bowled first, failed to chase the winning target of 133 runs. Nepal got all out in 19 overs bagging 114 runs. Aarif Sheikh earned the highest runs for Nepal. Sheikh obtained 25 runs in 21 balls with 2 fours and a sixer.
Moreover, Aadil Ansari and Vice-Captian Rohit Paudel collected 20 runs each. Opener duo Pawan Sarraf and Aasif Shaikh were dismissed for 19 and 5 runs respectively. Gyanendra Malla returned to the pavilion for 1 run off 4 balls.
Dipendra Singh Airee was sent off for 3 runs in 3 balls. All-rounder Karan KC was forced to leave the crease for 6 runs. Captain Sandeep Lamichhane was caught by Nehemiah Odhiambo off Lucas Oluoch’s bowl for 7 runs and Sompal Kami got run out for 2 runs.
Airee and Lamichhane took 3 wickets each whereas fast bowler KC took a couple of wickets to stop Kenya at 132 runs in the 20 overs.
Rakep Patel earned the most runs for Kenya. Patel gained 35 runs off 25 balls including 5 boundaries. Nehemiah Odhiambo scored 29 runs, Irfan Karim scored 22 runs and Sachin Bhudia scored 14 runs. Apart from them, no other batsman was able to score runs in double figures.
Squad:
Sandeep Lamichhane (Captain), Rohit Paudel (Vice Captain), Aasif Sheikh (Wicker Keeper), Aarif Sheikh, Dipendra Singh Airee, Dev Khanal, Aadil Alam, Karan KC, Gyanendra Malla, Sompal Kami, Basir Ahamad, Arjun Saud (Wicket Keeper), Pawan Sarraf, Shahab Alam, Kishor Mahato, Bibek Yadav
Nepal’s schedule for the Kenya tour:
T20i Series:
Nepal VS Kenya – August 28, 2022
Nepal VS Kenya – August 29, 2022
Nepal VS Kenya – August 30, 2022
One Day Series:
Nepal VS Kenya – September 2, 2022
Nepal VS Kenya – September 3, 2022
Nepal VS Kenya – September 5, 2022