PNG defeats Nepal
KATHMANDU: MARCH. 27 – Nepal also lost the second One-Day International against Papua New Guinea (PNG). Nepal was defeated by PNG by three wickets in a match played on Saturday at Kirtipur. PNG reached Nepal’s target of 279 runs despite losing 7 wickets with 8 balls remaining.
Lega Siaka of PNG scored 90 runs, while Riley Hekure remained unbeaten with 48 runs.
PNG won despite taking three wickets from Nepal’s Sompal Kami, two from Pawan Sharraf, and one each from Sandeep Lamichhane and Aarif Sheikh.
Nepal, who won the toss and decided to bat first, scored 278 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in the stipulated 50 overs. Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee scored 105 runs. Similarly, Dev Khanal contributed 72, Rohit Poudel 35, Bhim Sarki 26 and Sandeep Lamichhane 24 not out.
Dipendra hit the first half-century and the first century of his career while Dev, who made his debut in the same series, played a memorable inning of 72 runs. However, when the team did not win, their performance became a bit dull.
Nepal was defeated by PNG by 6 runs in the first match as well.
Nepal, which had recently defeated PNG in both Division Two Cricket matches in the UAE, was defeated in both home matches.
Nepal had given some young players a chance in this series. Gyanendra Malla, Binod Bhandari, and Karan KC, all experienced players, were rested. Similarly, Aasif Sheikh was also not in the team.
