Kathmandu – Sharad Vesawkar’s 36 runs off 21 balls went in vain as Nepal surrendered to Himachal Pradesh by 24 run in the third practice match chasing a small target of 137 runs.
Himachal Pradesh won the toss and elected to bat first. Riding on Abhimany Rana’s 26 runs off 30 balls and Sumit Verma’s 20 runs of just 12 balls, Himachal posted 136/7 in allotted overs. Pacer Karan KC picked three wickets, ending with figures 4-0-15-3 while Youngster Siddhant Lohani grabbed two wickets.
Nepal had a cautious start as openers Subash Khakurel and Gyanendra Malla consumed lot balls at the top, sharing 32 runs for the first wicket in 6.5 overs. Subash made 23 off 39 balls while Gyanendra contributed 12 runs off 17 balls. Paras too fell for just 10 runs off 18 balls, leaving Nepal 58/3 in 13.1 overs.
Vesawkar tried his best to take his team home blasting a quick 36 not out of 21 balls but couldn’t receive any help from the lower order as Nepal could only make 103/7 in 20 overs.
Nepal leads the series 2-1.
