In a warm-up match at Phoenix Park, Ireland, led by Prithu Baskota, the Nepal U19 Cricket team suffered a 17-run defeat against Namibia.
Namibia won the toss and chose to bat first on friendly pitch. They scored 170 runs and lost their 9 wickets on their 50 overs. Nepalese bowling attack was much disciplined and accurate during the inning. Captain Prithu and Abhinash Karna took 3 Wickets each, while Krishna Karki added two and Rahul Viswakarma a wicket each to the account.
During the chase, Openers Subash P. Khakurel and Fazlur Rahman started with blazing boundaries and took the scoreboard to 26 on 5th over, before Fazlur (13 runs) lost his wicket. Subash (16 runs)lost his wicket sooner when the team was on 38 run off 9 overs. Once the openers were dismissed, wickets started to tumble for Nepalese team.
At drinks, Nepal were at 82/3 off 20 overs and were 89 runs behind. Nepal lost half of their side for 99 at 25th over. Sagar Pun (35 runs) remained the top scorer for the team.
The expectations went high when the 9th and 10th men, Krishna Karki and Subendu Pandey were on crease, both of them playing the innnings of 14 and 16 runs respectively, hitting some boundaries. But the hope couldn’t continue once Krishna got out. With just 17 runs needed and 1 wicket remaining for Nepal, it was too much expected from No.10 & 11 and Namibia easily won the match on 38th over.
With the loosing experience on today’s warmup match, Nepal will be facing the art rivals Afghanistan on the opening match of the tournament on July 28.
Final Scorecard:
Namibia: 170/9 (50 overs)
Nepal: 153/10 (38 overs)
Result: Nepal lost by 17 runs against Namibia in the warm up match
Flow of Wickets for Nepal U19:
27/1, 38/2, 60/3, 86/4, 99/5, 117/6, 117/7, 120/8, 152/9, 153/10
