KATHMANDU – Nepal lost an opening match held today under the triangular international Twenty20 series against Namibia by 20 runs.
Chasing a target of 207 runs posted by Namibia, Nepal could score 186 runs in 18.5 overs at the loss of all wickets.
For Nepal, Dipendra Singh Airee top-scored with 48 runs, including two fours and two sixes in 32 balls. Captain Rohit Kumar Paudel contributed 42 runs with three boundaries and three sixes.
The partnership between Captain Paudel and Kushal Malla for the third wicket was noteworthy, as they accumulated 57 runs in just 28 balls, with Malla contributing 32 runs. Similarly, Gulshan Jha scored 12 runs, while Asif Sheikh and Vivek Yadav made six runs each. Sundeep Jora scored five.
Namibia’s Ruben Trumpelmann took four wickets, while Bernard Scholtz, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton and Jan Frylinck claimed two wickets each. Prior to this, Namibia chose to bat first after winning the toss at Kirtipur-based Tribhuvan University (TU) Cricket Ground. It scored 206 runs in 20 overs, losing four wickets.
Namibia’s Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton played an exceptional inning, scoring a century in just 33 balls. He made 111 runs off 33 balls, including 11 fours and eight sixes. With this, Eaton also broke the record previously held by Nepal’s Kushal Malla for the fastest hundred in T20 internationals.
Malla had achieved this feat by scoring a century in 34 balls against Mongolia in the 2023 Asian Games.
Similarly, Malan Kruger was not out with 59 runs including four fours and two sixes in 48 balls. Michael van Lingen made 20 runs, and JP Kotze contributed 11 while Captain JJ Smit contributed one run.
Towards the bowling , Nepal’s captain Paudel took two wickets, while Karan KC and Abinash Bohora claimed one wicket each. Nepal and the Netherlands will be meeting at 11:30 am tomorrow for the next match.
