29 Vaisakh, Kathmandu. In the first match of the home series under the ICC World Cup Cricket League-2, Nepal suffered a narrow 2-run defeat against Scotland.
Due to rain, Nepal, who got a target of 221 runs in 39 overs according to the DL method, could only make 218 runs after losing 7 wickets. Despite Gulsan's aggressive half-century, Nepal could not win. Gulsan remained unbeaten after scoring 61 runs in 35 balls. Vice-captain Dipendra Singh Airee scored 55 runs. He had a partnership of 76 runs for the fourth wicket with captain Rohit Paudel.
Rohit was out for 32 runs. Opener Aasif Sheikh scored 21, Karan KC 18, Vinod Bhandari 10, Aarif Sheikh 3, and Arjun Kumal 0 runs. Nandan Yadav remained unbeaten on 8 runs. In bowling, Scotland's Bradley Wheal took 3, Mark Watt took 2, and Jack Jarvis and Oliver Davison took one wicket each.
Prior to this, Scotland, who had won the toss and batted first at the Tribhuvan Cricket Ground, had scored 243 runs in the stipulated 50 overs while losing 8 wickets. For Scotland, opener George Munsey scored the highest 75 runs. In 62 balls, he hit 12 fours and 2 sixes. George had a partnership of 114 runs for the first wicket with Phil McMorris.
Phil was out for 35 runs in 62 balls. Both openers were dismissed by Sandeep Lamichhane in the same over, changing the momentum of the game. After that, Brendon McMullen scored 7 runs in 9 balls and captain Richie Berrington scored 5 runs in 11 balls before being dismissed.
When Scotland had lost 4 wickets for 128 runs, Matthew Cross and Michael Leask had a partnership of 44 runs for the fifth wicket. Matthew scored 18 runs in 38 balls before being dismissed, while Leask scored 34 runs in 72 balls and remained not out. Mark Watt scored 24 runs in 18 balls and Michael Leask scored 29 runs in 23 balls before being dismissed. Jack Jarvis was out for 0 runs.
In bowling, Nepal's Sandeep Lamichhane was lethal. Completing his spell, Sandeep took 4 wickets for 41 runs. Sandeep, who had lost his rhythm, turned the game around for Nepal. Karan KC and Nandan Yadav took two wickets each. In the series, Nepal will play their second match against the USA on Saturday.
