Nepal vs Papua New Guinea: Sandeep Lamichhane picked up 3 wickets as Nepal overcame a tough fight from PNG to win the opening game of their tri-series at home.
Nepal opens account with win over Papua New Guinea in straight three (Image credit: Nepal Cricket)
Nepal started the T20 tri-series with Papua New Guinea and Malaysia with a win over PNG in their first game on Monday at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur.
Nepal rode wicketkeeper batter Aasif Sheikh’s 35-ball 43 and quickfire 30s out of Rohit Paudel and Aarif Sheikh to complete a mammoth total of 183 in 20 overs.
Karan KC, who batted in 8th place, hit a 7-ball 14 as Nepal never took their foot off the pedal in aggressive innings.
PNG bowlers Alei Nao, Chad Soper and Charles Amini each took 2 wickets, but they couldn’t stop the flow of runs.
Nepal defended the massive total, beating captain Sandeep Lamichhane’s 3-wicket haul and Karan’s 2-wicket haul to seal a 15-run victory.
PNG lost their opener Tony Ura early, but Lega Siaka got going and hit a 10-ball 21. Their middle order failed, however.
PNG teetered at 100 for 7, but Norman Vanua struck a scare in Nepal, hitting 52 in just 29 balls. He smashed 5 borders and 4 sixes before Karn caught him with LBW.
PNG will try to recover from their opening Tri-Series loss to Nepal when they face Malaysia on Tuesday.
ALSO READ| Joe Root looking to continue as England Test captain after series loss to WI: I have the support
