Nepal suffers nine-wicket loss against India A

KATHMANDU: Nepal suffered a nine-wicket defeat against India A in its second match of the ACC Men’s Emerging Cup 2023 in Colombo on Monday

Batting first after winning the toss, Nepal managed to score 167 runs, losing all wickets in 39.2 overs. India A chased down the target, losing only one wicket, with 167 balls remaining.

Only four Nepali batsmen managed to reach double figures. Captain Rohit Poudel top-scored with 65 runs off 85 balls which included seven hits to the fence. Gulshan Jha scored a quickfire 38 off 30 balls, which included two fours and two sixes. Dev Khanal scored 15 runs off 21 balls, while Sompal Kami contributed 14 runs from 39 balls.

Nishant Sandhu was the standout bowler for India A, taking four wickets for just 14 runs in his 3.2 overs. Rajvardhan Hagargekar claimed three wickets, while Harshi Rana and Manav Suthar took two and one wicket, respectively.

Openers Sai Sudharsan and Abhishek Sharma took the game away from Nepal, adding 139 runs for the first wicket. Sharma scored 87 runs off 69 balls before being he was caught by Kushal Malla off the bowling of Rohit Poudel. Sudharshan remained unbeaten on 58 runs from 52 balls, while Dhruv Jurel contributed with a quickfire 21 off 12 balls.

Nepal had suffered a four-wicket loss against Pakistan A in its first match of the ACC Men’s Emerging Cup.

Nepal will play its next match against UAE A on Wednesday.