Nepal national cricket has suffered a defeat against Namibia in the first match of the ICC CWC League 2 2023-2027. Namibia bagged four-wicket win at TU Cricket Ground on Thursday.
Nepal’s winning streak at TU Cricket Ground also comes to an end at 15 matches. Their last defeat at TU was against UAE in November 2022.
Chasing a mere target of 133 runs, Namibia completed a chase in 33.1 overs losing six wickets. Namibia were 81/2 at one stage and were heading towards an easy win but Nepal picked up three quick wickets to make the contest interesting.
Nicol Loftie-Eaton then came and smashed 31 runs to seal Namibia’s victory. JJ Smith smacked a six and wrapped things up for Namibia. Jan Frylinck scored 34 runs whereas Michael van Lingen added 23 runs.
For Nepal, Lalit Rajbanshi took the first two wickets and Sompal Kami bagged the other three wickets.
Earlier in the first innings, Nepal were bowled out for 132 in 41.1 overs after being asked to bat first. This is their lowest ever total in TU Cricket Ground and fourth lowest first inning total overall.
Kushal Bhurtel gave away his wicket in the very first ball of the innings while chasing a wide delivery. Anil Sah (8), Aasif Sheikh (4) and Rohit Paudel (1) were dismissed cheaply as Nepal was in a dreadful situation of 21/4 in the 10th over.
Bhim Sharki and Kushal Malla then added 46 runs for the fifth wicket before the Namibian skipper Gerhard Erasmus tricked Malla to dismiss him for 15. Erasmus also took the next three wickets sending back Sompal Kami, Bhim Sharki and Gulshan Jha. Bhim Sharki top scored with 44 runs whilst Gulshan Jha assisted 21 runs.
Erasmus dismissed Karan KC (16) as the last wicket and also completed his fifer. He ended with a figure of 8.1-0-28-5. Pacers Ruben Trumpelmann and Jack Brassell picked up two wickets each for Namibia.
