Nepali All-Stars, a professional cricket club in the United States, led by former Nepal U19 skipper Prithu Baskota in today’s match, registered a win against Nepal’s Men XI in the first practice match played at Prairie View Cricket Complex in Texas.
Nepali All-Stars won the toss and decided to bowl first.
Nepal opened with regular openers Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh. Bhurtel was caught behind for a golden duck, flashing at the wide delivery whilst Aasif Sheikh was retired out for 1(4). Dev Khanal scored 20(56) and Rohit Poudel managed 16(23). Sunil Dhamala played six deliveries for his four runs.
Likewise, Binod Bhandari played 26 runs from 51 balls and Sompal Kami could only manage two from 20 deliveries. Mohammad Aadil Ansari scored 9(10) and Karan KC managed 21 runs from 17 balls.
The top score came from Aarif Sheikh’s bat. His knock of 60 off 74 balls helped the Nepal team to reach 190 runs in 45.5 overs. Marty Kain grabbed three wickets (3-36) from six overs while Adil Bhatti (2-24) and Mohammad Illyas (2-42) shared two wickets each.
Nepal Men lost their first practice match against Nepali All Stars by 4 wickets.
🔷 Nepal 190/10 (45.5 ov)
A Sheikh 60(74), B Bhandari 26(51), M Kain (3/36)
🔷 Nepali All Stars 192/6 (33.5 ov)
B Sharma 50(51), A Gous 45(33), S Lamichhane (5/49)#NepaltourofUSA #nepalcricket pic.twitter.com/m4Cn4K3R9W— cricnepal.com 🇳🇵 🦏 (@cricnepal) June 3, 2022
In reply, Nepali All-Stars reached the target in just 33.5 overs with four wickets in hand. Opener Andries Gous scored a brisk 45 off 33 balls and middle ordered Bipul Sharma top-scored with 50 off 51 balls.
Skipper Prithu Baskota 0(1) went without troubling the scorers. Meanwhile, Gourav Bajaj contributed an unbeaten 40 off 58 balls and Heath Richards 10(4) finished off the innings with a six against Sompal Kami.
Nepal’s Skipper Sandeep Lamichhane was the pick of the bowlers, who picked 5 for 49 in his 10 overs. Pacers Sompal Kami and Karan KC, both went wicketless and were expensive as well.
Nepal will play their second warm-up match against Houston Hurricanes on Saturday before playing against Oman on 9th June.
