ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2: Nepal defeats Namibia by 3 wickets

Nepal defeated Namibia by three wickets and registered their third consecutive win in the ongoing Triangular series of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 being held at TU Cricket ground in Kirtipur on Saturday.

Nepal chased down the 275-run target set by Namibia with 15 balls to spare, losing seven wickets.

Aasif Sheikh top-scored for Nepal at 81 runs of 98 balls as Gyanendra Malla and Kushal Malla made 65 and 62 runs respectively. Captain Rohit Paudel scored 39 runs.

Namibian bowlers Ruben Trumpelmann and Bernard Scholtz took three and two wickets respectively.

Earlier, invited to field first after losing the toss, Namibia put 274 runs on the board as Zane Green scored his career-high runs in One-Day International. Green made an unbeaten 75 runs off 63 balls, smashing 11 fours and a six.

The partnership between Green and Pikky Ya France helped the visitors gather 94 runs, and set the commendable target, losing six wickets in the stipulated 50 overs.

Likewise, Namibian Captain Gerhard Erasmus and Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton scored 15 runs each. Erasmus was bowled out by Sandeep Lamichhane while Nicol was caught by Aasif Sheikh in 37.3 overs.

Continuing his spree, Lamichhane bowled out opener Lo-handre Louwrens, who smashed eight fours to put 41 runs on the scoreboard off 54 balls. Sandeep took three wickets for Nepal, while Karan KC also managed to take a wicket.

Earlier, Nepal had defeated Namibia by 2 wickets in the first match and Scotland by 3 wickets in the second match.

In the series, Nepal will face Scotland in the last match on Tuesday.