ICC World Cup League 2: Nepal loses to USA by 37 runs

Kathmandu, Nov 3: Nepal has lost to the USA by 37 runs in the match held under the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 in Dallas, US earlier today.     

In the match held at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas, Dallas, Nepal won the toss and decided to field first. The USA scored 281 runs in the full quota of 50 overs at the loss of 8 wickets.     

For the host, Saiteja Mukkamalla top-scored with 75 runs in 87 balls while Captain Monak Patel scored 67 runs in 81 balls. Harmeet Singh was the third significant contributor to the American total, scoring 59 runs in 44 balls.     

For the bowling side, Gulshan Jha took 3 wickets giving away 87 runs in his full quota of 10 overs. Sandeep Lamichhane and Sompal Kami took 2 wickets each while Kushal Bhutel took 1 wicket.     

In reply, Nepal could muster only 244 runs after losing all wickets in 49.5 overs. Opener Anil Shah was the highest scorer with 52 runs in 80 balls followed by Sompal Kami who scored 46 runs in 27 balls.     

Kushal Malla and Dipendra Singh Airee scored 33 and 31 runs respectively, while Kushal Bhurtel scored 29 runs.     

For USA, Saurabh Netravalkar took 4 wickets giving away 47 runs in 9.5 overs, which also earned him the player of the match award. Shadley van Shalkwyk and Nosthush Kenjige took 2 wickets each.     

In the series also involving Scotland, Nepal has so far registered two losses and a win. In the first match against the host, USA, Nepal lost by 3 wickets but came back to defeated Scotland by 5 wickets in the second match.     

With the loss today, Nepal continues to languish in the 7th position in the points table of the League 2, with only 5 points from 11 matches so far. The USA leads the points table, with 16 points in 12 matches. Scotland is in the third position with 13 points in 10 matches so far.     

Nepal will next face Scotland in the same venue on Monday morning local time.(RSS)