Nepal beat Namibia by 3 wickets

21 Jan 2015, Kathmandu: Nepal defeated hosts Namibia by 3 wickets in the match held Wednesday under the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 at the United Cricket Club ground in the capitalcity of Windhoek.

Riding on a brilliant half century by Captain Paras Khakda 64 (56), Nepal overhauled the Namibian total of 142 runs in just 37.5 overs. The Nepali captain bagged the player-of-the-match award for his all-round performance that also included giving away just 19 runs in 10 overs, including 3 maiden, according to espncricinfo.com.


Vice-captain Gyanendra Malla and Basant Regmi also chipped in with 39 and 19 runs respectively.

Chasing a victory target of 143 runs, Nepal did not have an ideal start, loosing both the openers cheaply. After the departure of Sagar Pun 7(8) and Subas Khaurel 4 (25), Captain Khadka and his deputy Malla steadied the innings with a partnership of 58 runs for the third wicket. Khadka was also involved in a partnership of 48 runs with Binod Bhandari.

Earlier, opting to field first after winning the toss, Nepal restricted Namibia to 142 runs by bowling them all-out in 49.1 overs.

Karan KC was the pick of the bowlers for Nepal, who took 3 wickets in 6.1 overs followed by Sompal Kami, Shakti Gauchan and Basant Regmi, who took two wickets a piece.

For Namibia, Raymond Van Schoor top-scored with 28 runs while JP Kotze and Luois Klanzinga scored 27 and 24 runs respectively.

This is the third straight win for Nepal in the ICC WCL Division 2 tournament. After loosing its opening match to Uganda, Nepal defeated the Netherlands and Canada.

Nepal now stands tied on 6 points with hosts Namibia in the points table, second in the standing due to an inferior run-rate.

With three wins in a row, Nepal has secured its place in Division 2 while opening the door to climb to Division 1.

Nepal now plays Kenya in its final match of the tournament on January 23. A win will take Nepal to Division 1 and an opportunity to play alongside the six Associate nations, who currently have ODI status, in the next editions of the ICC Intercontinental Cup and the World Cricket League Championship. Both the tournaments begin later this year and stretch through 2017. RSS