Nepal loses to West Indies A by 10 runs in 2nd match of friendly series before World Cup

Kathmandu [Nepal], April 28 (ANI): Nepal lost to West Indies-A by 10 runs in the ongoing second of the five-match friendly series being held at TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur in Kathmandu on Sunday. Nepal players set out to chase the target of 161 but fell short by 10 runs, bundling out on 150/9 after playing 20 overs. Nepal national team captain, Rohit Kumar Paudel who had hit a century in the first game on Saturday once again showed his class and scored a half-century on Sunday. The visitors had won the toss and elected to bat first but had a shaky start losing openers Johnson Charles and Alick Athanaze early at 11 and six runs respectively.

However, Andre Fletcher steadied the innings with a composed knock of 43 runs off 36 deliveries with three sixes before losing his wicket to Dipendra Singh Airee in 17.5 overs.

Roston Chase contributed 23 runs as Gudakesh Motie's blazing innings of 33 runs off just eight balls helped the visitors to set a decent target of 160/7.

For Nepal, Sagar Dhakal and Kushal Bhurtel took two wickets each in their four-over spell as Sompal Kami and Dipendra Singh Airee grabbed a wicket apiece.

In the run chase, Nepal lost opener Kushal Bhurtel for two runs in 3.4 overs. Anil Sah was sent back to the pavilion for one run in 4.4 overs. Opener Lokesh Bam looked promising with his fluent stroke play but failed to convert his start into a substantial score. Bam lost his wicket to Gudakesh Motie for 17 runs in 5.5 overs.

Rohit Paudel put in a heroic effort, playing a captain's innings with an unbeaten 71 off 48 balls.

Gulsan Jha's brief cameo of 25 runs off 11 balls injected some excitement into the crowd. But were restricted to 150-9 on the board at the end of the stipulated 20 overs.

For West Indies, Gudakesh Motie and Obed McCoy took two wickets each while Oshane Thomas and Roston Chase took a wicket apiece. With the victory, the visiting team have levelled the five-match series 1-1. (ANI)