Kathmandu, Jan. 10: Nepal went down to Namibia by just 4 runs in the ICC world Cup qualifier warm up match held at Burwood Park of Christchurch, New Zealand earlier today.
Nepal finished with 227 runs on the board in 50 overs at the loss of 9 wickets. Binod Bhandari’s 65 in 60 balls had taken Nepal closer to victory but the last pair of Shakti Gauchan and Sompal Kami failed to take Nepal past the Namibian total.
Earlier, Namibia had set a victory target of 232 runs before Nepal. Opting to bat first after winning the toss, Namibia posted a total of 231 runs in the stipulated 50 overs at the loss of 9 wickets. Stephan Baard and Nicolaas Scholtz scored 73 and 79 runs respectively for the Namibian total.
For Nepal, Sompal Kami was the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets in 10 overs. He gave away just 36 runs in the process. Basant Regmi also chipped in with 2 wickets.
It may be noted that all 15 players in the team can play this warm up match.
The ICC world cup cricket qualifying tournament is being held in New Zealand from coming January 13 to February 1. Nepal is grouped together with the UAE, Hong Kong, Scotland and Canada in Group A.
A total of three teams will be selected from the tournament to play the world cup also being held in New Zealand and Australia in 2015, according to the International Cricket Coucil or ICC.
The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup will be the 11th ICC Cricket World Cup and is scheduled to take place from 14 February to 29 March in 2015. RSS
