KATHMANDU: Nepal registered its fifth consecutive win in ICC World Cup League 2 by beating Papua New Guinea (PNG) by four wickets on Monday.
Earlier, Nepal had won all four matches in the series with Scotland and Namibia played in Kathmandu.
After the victory, Nepal has collected 28 points from 29 games. Now ranked sixth, Nepal is 1 point behind the fifth ranked UAE. Nepal will now play the second match in the series against UAE on Thursday.
After opener Kushal Bhurtel hit a half-century in the match against PNG, Nepal completed the target of 204 runs in Dubai by playing 45.2 overs and scoring 207 runs with the loss of 6 wickets.
Kushal Bhurtel played 69 balls and scored 56 runs with the help of 5 fours.
Nepal had a great start in chasing the target. Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh shared a partnership of 76 runs for the first wicket. Aasif scored 44 runs with the help of 5 fours in 39 balls before being run out.
Gyanendra Malla, who came after that, was bowled in 3 runs. Nepal was at 135-4 when skipper Rohit Paudel got out after scoring 20 runs. After that, Aarif Sheikh and Dipendra Singh Airee shared a half-century and laid the foundation for Nepal’s victory.
Aarif and Dipendra shared 54 runs for the fifth wicket. Dipendra scored 22 runs with the help of 1 six off 43 balls and was out in the 39th over.
Aarif played 62 balls and scored 33 runs with the help of 1 boundary. Kushal Malla, who ensured Nepal’s victory by hitting a six, added 12 runs unbeaten.
Likewise, Sompal Kami remained unbeaten on 5 runs.
Before that, PNG, who lost the toss and batted first, played the entire 50 overs and scored 203 runs for the loss of 9 wickets.
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