By a Staff Reporter
Scotland topped ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 points table crushing Nepal by 3 wickets at United Ground in Windhoek, Namibia.
Nepal, who were lucky enough to share a spoil in its recent outing against Namibia, got ill-fated today. Invited to bat first, Nepal loosed all its wickets in 40.1 overs for 137 runs.
Nepal’s Inning
As usual, with horrific batting, Nepal gifted Scotland with an easy win. Arjun Saud and Aasif Sheikh, who opened the innings returned to the pavilion for 18 and 7 runs respectively. One of the finest batters in domestic cricket, Aasif Sheikh failed to last more than 2.4 overs in the crease.
Star performer against Namibia, Gyanendra Malla scored 50 runs less than he scored against Namibia. Facing 39 deliveries, the experienced player of the squad, Gyanendra collected 25 runs with 3 fours.
Rohit Paudel, continuing his poor form, got dismissed in cheap. He scored 17 off 43 deliveries. Moreover, the former opener and recent middle-order batsman Kushal Bhurtel departed following a golden duck.
However, Gulsan Jha scored the highest runs of 29 with 3 fours and 1 six off 29 deliveries. Aarif Sheikh (10), Dipendra Singh Airee (9), Karan KC (8), Lalit Rajbanshi (3), and Sagar Dhakal* contributed 4 runs to the tally.
With the player of the match, Chris Sole claiming 3 wickets, Mark Watt booked 2 whereas Brandon McMullen, Safyaan Sharif, and Michael Leask took 1 wicket each.
Scotland’s Inning
In return to the winning target of 137 runs, Scotland scored 143/7 in 32.1 overs. Scotland’s opener Christopher McBride contributed the highest of 43 runs off 47 deliveries with 7 fours. Christopher’s opener partner George Munsey left the crease for 17 runs off 15 deliveries.
Kyle Coetzer (3), Richie Berrington (3), Matthew Cross (13), Michael Leask (22), and Mark Watt collected 4 runs. Brandon McMullen (32) and Safyaan Sharif (2) remained not out. Brandon’s fantastic sixer at the first ball of the 33rd over gave Scotland a cool finish to the inning.
Nepal’s Sagar Dhakal, Gulsan Jha and Lalit Rajbanshi took 2 wickets each whereas Dipendra Singh Airee claimed 1.
With a win, Scotland topped the competition points table with 44 points, equal to Oman. Nepal stands steady, second through the bottom.
Nepal will see off Namibia and Scottland for the second time on December 7 and December 8 respectively.
