Kathmandu. Nepal faced a narrow defeat by just 1 run against Pakistan Shaheens in their final league match of the Top End T20 Series being held in Australia’s Northern Territory.
Chasing a target of 145 runs set by Pakistan, Nepal managed to score only 143 runs for 7 wickets in 20 overs. Despite a fine innings of 52 runs by captain Rohit Paudel and an unbeaten 41 runs by Dipendra Singh Airee, it was not enough for victory.
Although Nepal had a slow start, Rohit and Dipendra’s partnership brought the team back into a strong position. However, needing 8 runs in the final over, Nepal could only add 6 runs, falling just short.
Earlier, Pakistan, after winning the toss and opting to bat first, posted 144 runs for 9 wickets in 20 overs. Their captain Mohammad Irfan Khan Niazi played a captain’s knock with an unbeaten 42 runs. Despite being in deep trouble at 79 for 7, Irfan’s innings rescued Pakistan.
For Nepal, Sompal Kami picked up 3 wickets for 30 runs in 4 overs, while Nandan Yadav and Dipendra Singh Airee claimed 2 wickets each, and Kushal Bhurtel took 1 wicket.
