By a Staff Reporter
Houston – IPL champion Bipul Sharma played the spoilsport to deny victory to the Sandeep Lamichhane-led Nepali national cricket team over Nepal All Star during a practice match held in Houston, Texas on Thursday.
Despite outstanding bowling by skipper Lamichhane, Nepal All Star featuring former cricketers defeated the national team of Nepal by 4 wickets.
Chasing a target of 191 runs for victory, All Star met the target in 22.5 overs losing six wickets.
Bipul Sharma contributed 50 runs off 51 balls including 4 boundaries and two sixes for the All Star team. Sharma was a member of the Sunrisers Hyderabad when they lifted the IPL title in 2016. Gaurav Bajaj was unbeaten on 40 runs off 58 balls.
Lamichhane took 5 wickets for Nepal in his 10-over spell while Kishor Mahato bagged one wicket.
Earlier, Nepal were invited to bat first after losing the toss and posted a total of 190 runs in 45.5 overs. Nepal’s Aarif Sheikh topscored 60 runs off 75 balls and was unbeaten in the match.
Nepal All Star’s Martin Kane took 3 wickers and Aadil Bhati took 2 while Bipul Sharma and Harmeet Singh took a wicket each.
Nepal is playing two practice matches in the USA before taking part in the ICC World Cup League-2 triangular series against the USA and Oman. Nepal’s first match is on June 9 against Oman.
Nepali squad:
Sandeep Bhandari (Captain), Aasif Sheikh (wicketkeeper), Kushal Bhurtel, Rohit Poudel, Dipendra Singh Airee, Aarif Sheikh, Binod Bhandari, Sunil Dhamala, Dev Khanal, Aadil Ansari, Karan KC, Susan Bhari, Kishor Mahato and Sagar Dhakal.
Match schedule:
June 9 – Nepal Vs Oman
June 11- Nepal Vs USA
June 14 – Nepal Vs Oman
June 15 – Nepal Vs USA
