Nepal thump Ireland Wolves by six-wicket

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Mar. 26: Nepal notched up an six-wicket victory in the first of the two unofficial T20I matches against Ireland Wolves at TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur on Monday. Nepal easily chased the target of 122 runs set by the visitors in 16.1 overs, losing four wickets. Kushal Bhurtel led Nepal’s batting with an unbeaten 37 runs, hitting four boundaries off 32 deliveries. Dipendra Singh Airee also contributed with a quick 20 runs off 12 balls, including two boundaries and one maximum. Sundeep Jora added 36 runs, including three boundaries and two sixes off 35 balls.

Opener Aasif Sheikh was the first to fall to an Irish bowler, as Gareth Delany dismissed him in the second ball of the fourth over. Sheikh scored one maximum and two boundaries in his brief innings of 16 runs off 11 balls. In the same over, Delany also dismissed Captain Rohit Paudel for a duck, caught by wicketkeeper Stephen Doheny. Nepal stumbled to 37/3 in the fifth over after Ben White had Gulshan Jha (4) caught by Cade Carmichael.

However, opener Bhurtel and Sundeep combined for a 54-run partnership for the fourth wicket, stabilizing the innings. Thomas Mayes eventually broke the partnership in the 13.1 over by dismissing Sundeep. With 31 runs required for victory, Bhurtel partnered with Dipendra to guide Nepal home.

After winning the toss, Ireland chose to bat first but were bowled out for 121 runs in 20 overs. Opener Stephen was the top scorer for the visitors with 46 runs, hitting four boundaries and two sixes off 39 balls. Thomas and Liam McCarthy contributed identical scores of 16 runs each, while Fionn Hand added 11 runs. The rest of the Irish batters were dismissed cheaply.

Nepal's Lalit Rajbanshi, Gulshan Jha, and Kushal Bhurtel each picked up two wickets to help restrict the Irish Wolves to a low score. 

Pacer Karan KC made an early breakthrough for Nepal by dismissing opener Ross Adair for 4 runs in the second ball of the innings. Lalit then trapped Cade Carmichael lbw for 8 runs to further dent the Irish batting. 

Morgan Topping was the next to depart, falling victim to Gulshan. Captain Neil Rock (5) became the second victim of Gulshan in the ninth over. Kushal Malla took the wicket of Gareth for 4 runs, caught by Dipendra, as the tourists struggled at 63/5 in the 11th over.

Kushal Bhurtel, the player of the match, claimed the wicket of top scorer Stephen Fionn, caught by Dipendra in the 13.1 over. 

The Irish team slumped to 84/7 in the 15.1 over as Kushal Bhurtel dismissed Fionn for his second wicket. Lalit picked up his second wicket, trapping Liam in the 16.3 overs. Captain Rohit, Sompal, and Aasif combined for the run-out of Thomas in the 18.6 overs. Mattew Humphreys (6) was run out by wicketkeeper Aasif Sheikh after playing 10 balls.

The Nepali senior side will play its second match on Monday, and Nepal A is scheduled to play six matches against the visitors.