Nepal suffered a 42-run defeat against the Northern Territory Strike in the ongoing Top End T20 Series in Australia.
Chasing a target of 178 runs, Nepal was bowled out for 135 in 20 overs, losing 8 wickets. The team struggled from the start as the openers failed to provide a strong foundation. Opener Kushal Bhurtel scored only 8 runs, while Aasif Sheikh notched up 11 runs. Lokesh Bam couldn’t even open his account, getting out for a duck.
Rohit Paudel contributed 23 runs, and Kushal Malla top-scored with 34 before being dismissed. Dipendra Singh Airee added 19 runs, and Gulshan Jha scored 26. Sompal Kami was out for just 1 run, while Rupesh Singh (8) and Sandeep Lamichhane (2) remained not out.
In reply, Matt Hammond claimed the highest 3 wickets followed by Kane Richardson with 2 wickets while Tom Andrews, Hamish Martin and D'Arcy Short secured one wicket each.
Earlier, opting to field first after winning the toss, Nepal restricted Northern Territory to 177/8 in 20 overs. Northern Territory’s opener D’Arcy Short top-scored with 51 runs off 34 balls, including seven fours and a six, before being bowled out by Sandeep Lamichhane.
The other opener, J Dikman, was caught out by Rupesh Singh after scoring 11 runs. Conor Carol (18), Jordan Silk (19), Thomas Andrews (32), C McMohann contributed 12 runs while the rest of the batters failed to score double-digit runs.
For Nepal, Sandeep Lamichhane took three wickets, while Sahav Alam claimed two. Rupesh Singh, Dipendra Singh Airee, and Rohit Kumar Paudel each took one wicket.
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