Nepal open tour match with 8-wicket victory

KATHMANDU, JAN 03 -
Nepal opened their practice tour of New Zealand on a winning note as they comfortably beat Canterbury Selection XI by eight wickets at Burnside Park in Canterbury on Thursday.

Batting first, Canterbury were bowled out for a moderate 204 runs in 49.3 overs as Som Pal Kami and Sagar Pun starred with the ball for the visitors picking up four wickets each. In reply, opener Anil Mandal remained unbeaten on 99 as Nepal completed the chase with ease in 33.2 overs with eight wickets in hand. The practice match was one of the four Nepal were set to play against the team prior to their ICC World Cup Qualifiers.

Canterbury openers Simon Keen and skipper Joel Abraham gave the home side a solid start as they reached 65 after the first 15 overs. But it was Pun who broke the opening partnership by dismissing Abraham for 21 runs. Pun then picked up two quick wickets of Keen (47), who was caught by Gyanendra Malla, and Cole McConchie (1) as the hosts stumbled to 71-3 in the 20th over.

Middle-order batsman Jeff Case then played a brilliant innings of 88 but received little support from the other end as Canterbury lost wickets at regular intervals with only Hugh Paterson (16) and Chris Cooper (10) getting into double figures. Paterson was bowled by paceman Kami while Cooper also fell to the seamer. Kami then had Case caught by Binod Bhandari to put brakes on the home team’s charge. Case smashed eight fours and three sixes in his 95-ball knock.

Pun (4-26) and Kami (4-39) were the standout bowlers for Nepal while spinner Basanta Regmi also chipped in with figures of 2-37.

Nepal started their chase well as openers Mandal and Subash Khakurel (31) took the total to 60 after 12 overs. Paterson then broke the opening stand dismissing Khakurel. Mandal and Gyanendra Malla (51) then shared a brilliant second-wicket partnership of 129 runs to propel Nepal’s total to 189 after 32 overs before the latter was trapped fell leg before wicket to Keen.

Captain Paras Khadka then joined Mandal at the crease to guide the visitors safely home. Mandal, who smashed nine fours and three sixes in his blistering 93-ball knock, was unlucky not to compete his century as the batsman was stranded one run short of the milestone. Khadka was unbeaten on five as Nepal completed the chase scoring 207 runs in 33.2 overs. Keen was pick of the Canterbury bowlers taking 1-27 in his five overs, while Paterson claimed 1-31.

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