Sports
Lamichhane shines as Nepal edge Kenya in a thriller
Leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane returned with a five-wicket haul as Nepal defeated Kenya by three wickets in the last-ball thriller in the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 match in Windhoek, Namibia on Monday.Leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane returned with a five-wicket haul as Nepal defeated Kenya by three wickets in the last-ball thriller in the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 match in Windhoek, Namibia on Monday.
Lamichhane polished off Kenya’s top and middle orders to finish with figures of 5-20 in his 10 overs as Nepal restrict Kenya to 177-8 in 50 overs. Then 87-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Aarif Sheikh and Rohit Kumar Paudel helped Nepal chase down the target.
Nepal retain second spot in the group standings tied on six points with leaders Canada, who lead by virtue of the better run rate. The two sides play in the last league game on Wednesday. A Nepali win against Canada will secure their place in the next month’s ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe.
At the Wanderers Cricket Ground, Nepal had a horrible start losing openers Gyanendra Malla and debutant Anil Kumar Sah, along with Dipendra Singh Airee cheaply to find themselves reduced to 14-3 inside six overs. Skipper Paras Khadka then played some aggressive shots as he put on 52 runs with Sharad Vesawkar (19) for the fourth wicket to bring Nepal back into the game.
Nepal needed nine runs to win from the last 12 balls with left-arm spinner Shem Ngoche bowling the penultimate over. Although the equation looked initially easy for Nepal, they lost Sheikh in that over as Ngoche conceded just three runs to take the game into the final over.
Needing six in the last over, Paudel scampered for a couple in the first ball and handed the strike to new man Sompal Kami. After several nerve rattling moments when Nepal Paudel fell short of his grounds, Kami managed two runs in the final ball to secure the win.