Nepal suffered a big defeat in their first official warm-up game of the T20 World Cup 2024. The Nepalese side were handed a 63-run defeat at the hands of Canada at Grand Prairie Stadium.
Chasing a big target of 184 runs, Nepal struggled right from the start and were bowled out to 120 runs in 19.3 overs. Kushal Bhurtel scored a sluggish 10 runs before walking back in the fifth over. Aasif Sheikh and Anil Sah shared a 39-run partnership for the second wicket. Aasif scored 22 and Anil made 24 before being dismissed in ninth and 10th over respectively.
Rohit Paudel (1), Sundeep Jora (6), Gulshan Jha (0) and Sompal Kami (4) were unable to do any special either. Kushal Malla top-scored with 37 runs (30 balls) before being dismissed in the 19th over. Dilon Heyliger dismissed Sagar Dhakal and Abinash Bohara in the last over to wrap up a victory for his side.
For Canada, Heyliger was the pick of a bowler grabbing four wickets. Jeremy Gordon and Saad Bin Zafar pocketed a couple of wickets each.
Earlier, Canada posted a decent total of 183/7 in the allotted 20 overs, after being asked to bat first. Opener Navneet Dhaliwal scored 32 runs after the departure of his partner Aaron Jhonson for 10. Nicholas Kirton top scored 52 runs from 39 balls.
The Nepalese side were well under control until the 17th over as Canada were at 128/6 after 17 overs. But things didn’t go well for Nepal as they conceded 55 runs from the last three overs. Sompal Kami (16), Abinash Bohara (18) and Karan KC (21) were very expensive in the 18th, 19th and 20th over of the inning. Ravinderpal Singh did the damage with an unbeaten 17-ball 41.
For Nepal, Abinash Bohara picked up two wickets whereas Sagar Dhakal, Lalit Rajbanshi, Sompal Kami, Gulhan Jha and Karan KC bagged one wicket each.
Nepal’s next warm-up game is scheduled against the USA on May 30 at the same venue. Notably, Nepal will also play their opening match against the Netherlands on June 4 at this same ground.
