Nepal 207/2 in 33.2 overs(Mandal 99* , Malla 51) defeat Canterbury Selection XI 204/10 in 49.2 overs(Sagar 4/26, Sompal 4/39)
Nepal defeated Canterbury Selection XI by 8 wickets in the first practice match played at Burnside Park, Canterbury.
Bowling first Nepal restricted Canterbury team to 204/10 in 49.2 overs and chased the target with 16.4 overs to spare thanks to an innings of 99 runs from Anil Mandal. Mandal who opened the innings for Nepal first added 60 runs for first wicket with his opening partner Subash Khakurel(31 of 42 balls) and 129 with vice captain Gyanendra Malla(51 of 64 balls) for the second.
Mandal who had started the innings slow but picked up the pace later on. In fact he finished the match with two huge sixes. Mandal struck 9 fours and three sixes in his match winning innings of 99 from just 93 balls.
Earlier with the ball, it was a typical practice match score card for Nepal. The openers for gave Canterbury a solid start adding 65 for the first wicket. Sagar Pun then got 3 wickets in 3 consecutive overs to bring Nepal back in the game. Pun ended with 4 wickets from his 9 overs giving just 26 runs.
J. Chase top scored for Canterbury with 88 runs while opener S.J Keen made 47.
Sompal Kami also proved his worth in the match as he rattled the middle and lower order of Canterbury ending the game with scalps in his pocket. Sompal, selected over Jitendra for yesterday’s match returned with figures of 9.3-0-39-4.
Basanta Regmi picked up the remaining two wickets for Nepal. Shakti Gauchan was once again very economical giving just 19 runs from his 9 overs but did not get any wicket.
