Nepal wins T20I series against USA in three-match showdown

KATHMANDU: Nepal defeated the US in super over in the second T20 match held under the bilateral series between the two countries.

With the win, Nepal has also won the series 2-0, before the third and last match is played.

In the match held at Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas, the visitors defeated the hosts in super over, after both the teams were tied at 170 runs at the end of 20 overs each.

Sompal Kami defended 7 runs in the last over, to take the match to super over. Kami took 2 wickets and gave away only 6 runs. He came back again to restrict the hosts to just 2 runs in the super over, also taking 2 consecutive wickets.

Captain Rohit Paudel scored 3 runs in the one-over eliminator, to record a historic series win for the country against the US at their home turf.

Earlier, Nepal had posted 170 runs at the loss of 6 wickets in the full quota of 20 overs, having decided to bat first after winning the toss.

Kushal Bhurtel was the top scorer for the visitors, scoring 92 not out in 54 balls. He also won the man-of-the-match award for his feat.

Opener Anil Shah scored 25 in 31 balls while Gulshan Jha and captain Rohit Paudel scored 19 and 18 runs respectively.

For the home team, Jasdeep Singh and Nosthush Kenjige took 2 wickets apiece. Saurab Netravalkar took one wicket.

Chasing 171 runs for a win, Aaron Jones top scored with 62 runs to take his team to almost a win. However, he was out in the second last ball of the match, while trying to clear the boundary for a win.

Saiteja Mukkamalla contributed 47 runs. Milind Kumar and Shayan Jahangir scored 15 and 14 runs respectively.

For the visitors, Karan KC took 3 wickets, Sompal Kami took 2 wickets while Dipendra Singh Airee and Sagar Dhakal took 1 wicket each.

Prior to this, Nepal had defeated the hosts by 17 runs in the first T20 match held under the series last Friday. Nepal had scored 164 runs in the first match.

The third and final match of the series will be held on Oct 21, before the triangular series also involving Scotland under the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cop League 2 begins.

Led by Rohit Paudel, Nepal 11 included Anil Shah, Aasif Sheikh, Kushal Bhurtel, Gulshan Jha, Aarif Sheikh, Dipendra Singh Airee, Karan KC, Sompal Kami, Rijan Dhakal and Sagar Dhakal.