Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Nepal defeated Scotland by six wickets to earn their second straight win in the ICC World Cricket League 2 at the TU International Cricket Stadium on Monday.
The win also lifted Nepal to fifth on the eight-team table with 22 points from 27 matches.
Batting first, Scotland were all out for 194 runs in 39.1 overs as Nepali spinners claimed eight wickets. Nepal chased down the 195-run target, losing six wickets in 38.1 overs.
Nepal removed Scottish openers George Munsey (21) and Finlay McCreath (6) cheaply. However, Brandon McMullen and Michael English steadied the innings. McMullen scored an aggressive 73 off 44 balls, while Michael English scored 51 off 72 balls. Richie Berrington scored 12, and Mark Watt made 20. Other Scottish batters failed to reach double digits.
Lalit Rajbanshi scored four wickets for Nepal, while Sandeep Lamichhane picked up three. Dipendra Singh Aree, Sompal Kami, and Nandan Yadav picked up one wicket each.
Nepal made light work of the chase as openers Kushal Burtel (28) and Aasif Sheikh (29) added 58 runs for the first wicket. Although Scotland removed both openers in the space of four balls, Ishan Pandey and Captain Rohit Paudel scored half-centuries to take Nepal home. Pandey, playing only his second ODI, scored 55 of 61 balls, while Captain Paudel remained unbeaten at 74 off 98 balls.
Mark Watt claimed two wickets for Scotland, while Brandon McMullen picked up one.
Scotland will play the US in the next match of the tri-series on Wednesday.
The match was important for Nepal also because Lamichhane became the fastest to reach the 150-wicket milestone in ODIs when he removed Brandon McMullen on the final ball of the 20th over. He achieved the feat in just 73 matches.
