Kathmandu: Nepal has defeated Namibia by two wickets in the first match of the triangular one-day series under the ICC World Cricket League-2 held at TU cricket ground, Kirtipur on Tuesday.
Riding on a brilliant maiden ODI century by Kushal Bhurtel, Nepal surpassed a challenging total set by the opponents in 47.7 overs at the loss of 8 wickets. Bhurtel was the top-scorer for Nepal with 115 runs including 10 fours and 4 sixes in 113 balls.
Earlier, put into bat by the hosts after losing the toss, Namibia set Nepal a huge target of 286 runs at the loss of all wickets in the stipulated 50 overs.
For Namibia, Michael van Lingen scored a brilliant century (133 runs in 137 balls) while captain Gerhard Erasmus added 56, Zane Green scored 34 runs and Jan Frylinck contributed 13 runs.
For the bowling side, Karan KC took 5 wickets while Sandeep Lamichhane took 3 wickets. Kushal Malla and Sompal Kami took one wicket each.
In reply, Nepal surpassed the Namibian total with 14 balls to spare, thanks to the century by Bhurtel, which also won him the player of the match award. Captain Rohit Poudel contributed 72 runs while Sandip Jora and Karan KC added 28 and 20 (n.o.) runs respectively to ensure a morale boosting victory for the hosts.
Within this win, Nepal has added 20 points in 25 matches that it has played so far in the series. Nepal is in the 6th position in the points table including seven countries. Namibia is in the 3rd position with 37 points.
Nepal will now play against Scotland on February 17. Scotland leads the points table with 46 points.
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