Nepal A has inflicted a three-run defeat on Ireland A in the third unofficial T20 cricket tournament held at TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on Monday.
To restrict Ireland A from reaching the target, Bipin Khatri took the highest three wickets conceding 23 runs while Kamal Airee, Narayan Joshi and Rashid Khan took one wicket each.
While chasing the target, Ireland A’s Gareth Delany made the highest 68 runs including five fours and five sixes off 37 deliveries followed by Morgan Topping with 60 runs while Ross Adair and Fionn Hand contributed 31 and 22 runs, respectively. The other batsmen could not reach double digit runs.
Earlier, invited to bat first after losing the toss, Nepal notched up 213 runs losing seven wickets in the allotted 20 overs.
Aarif Sheikh topped the score with 93 not out runs including seven fours and six sixes off 48 balls followed by Rashid Khan with 24 runs while Kamal Airee hit 19 runs. Similarly, Basir Ahamad and Pawan Sarraf contributed 19 and 13 runs, respectively.
On the bowling side, Fionn Hand grabbed two wickets while Liam McCarthy, Matthew Foster, Gareth Delany and Gavin Hoey took one wicket each for Ireland A.
However, Ireland has won the title of the T20 series as Nepal suffered defeats in all the matches played earlier, to lose the title of the series. Nepal 'A' had lost to Ireland 'A' by 21 runs in the first match and 40 runs in the second match.
Nepal A and Ireland A will now lock horns in a three-match ODI series.
The first match of the series will be held on Wednesday. The second match will take place on Friday and the final match on Sunday.
A Nepali cricket team has already been announced under the captainship of Binod Bhandari to this effect.
