Nepal defeats Scotland by three wickets

KATHMANDU: Nepal defeated Scotland by three wickets in the ICC World Cricket League-2 tri-series at the TU International Cricket Stadium in Kathmandu on Friday.

This is Nepal’s second ODI win against Scotland, who secured the WCL-2 title on Wednesday, and its second victory in as many matches in the tri-series which also features Namibia.

Batting first after losing the toss, Scotland scored 274 runs losing nine wickets in the allotted 50 overs. Nepal overcame the target losing seven wickets with 18 balls to spare.

Scotland made a shaky start losing its six wickets with 111 runs on board at halfway point despite adding 34 runs for the first wicket. Michael Leask scored an unbeaten 107 runs from 85 balls to take Scotland past 270 runs.

Sandeep Lamichhane took three wickets for Nepal giving 27 runs. Kushal Malla took two wickets while Sompal Kami, Kushal Bhurtel, and Dipendra Singh Airee each had one wicket to their name.

Nepal wobbled in the chase, and was at 77/5 in the 11th over. But Kushal Malla and Dipendra Singh Airee scripted Nepal’s chase scoring magnificent half-centuries. Airee scored an unbeaten 85 runs from 116 balls, while Malla played an aggressive knock of 81 runs from 67 balls. Sompal Kami remained not out at 24 runs from 32 balls.

Chris Sole and Mark Watt took three wickets each for Scotland, while Leask took one wicket.

Nepal will play Namibia in its third match of the tri-series on Saturday.