KATHMANDU: Nepal ‘A’ lost its opening match of the Top End T-20 Series underway in Australia, suffering an eight- wicket defeat against the host Northern Territory Strike.
In the match played at Marrara Cricket Ground, Nepal ‘A’ posted a target of 123 runs. Northern Territory Strike chased down the target in 15 overs, losing just two wickets. Northern Territory played with an attacking strategy since the beginning.
Douwtjie Hoogenboezem was not out with 50 runs while Jordan Silk was not with 42. Captain Darcy Short contributed 23 runs to the team.
For Nepal ‘A’, Pawan Sarraff took two wickets while giving 13 runs. Prior to this, Nepal made 122 runs was put into bat first by losing the toss. He was the top scorer for the team with 41 runs: three fours and one six off 49 balls.
Lokesh Bam made 16 runs off 13 balls, including one four and one six. Narayan Joshi contributed 15 runs off eight balls, with one four and one six, while captain Anil Shah made 13 runs off nine balls, also hitting one four and one six. Trit Raj Das scored 13 runs off nine balls, including two fours.
Rashid Khan scored 10 runs, while Ksuhal Malla added nine. Opener Kushal Bhurtel was dismissed for a duck after facing five balls. Shahab Alam and Rijan Dhakal were both not out, having scored zero runs.
Hamish Martin took three wickets, while Tom Menzies, Sam Barker, Will Blair and Darcy Short each took one wicket each. Nepal ‘A’ will face Bangladesh ‘A’ on Saturday.
