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With a victory over Namibia by three runs in the ongoing Tri-Nation T20I Series, hope for Nepal to reach the final of the tournament has remained alive.
The Rhinos, on Friday, losing the toss batted first accumulating 180 runs on the back of an unbeaten half-century by Kushal Malla at a loss of eight wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. The visitors were then bundled out for 177 runs in the game held at TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, in the capital Kathmandu. Nepali players were able to dismiss Namibian openers Malan Kruger and Michael Van Lingen for 3 and 10 runs, respectively. Gulshan Jha in 1.3 overs stumped out Kruger, while Karan KC bowled out Lingen in 5.3 overs. John-Pierre Kotze managed to smash four boundaries, accumulating a 22-ball 25 while Jan Frylinck posted 37 runs off 29 deliveries. Aasif Sheikh caught Kotze, while Frylnck was dismissed by Abinash Bohara. The captain of the Namibian team, JJ Smith, however, scored 50 runs, including six hits to the fences and two maximums in his 26-knock play, before being caught by Anil Sah in 15.1 overs. For Nepal, Sompal Kami and Dipendra Singh Airee grabbed two wickets each, while Karan KC and Abinash Bohara also managed to dismiss one Namibian batter each. The Rhinos, in first inning, lost Aasif Sheikh by one run in the very first over, while captain Rohit Paudel, who walked to the pitch third to bat, also returned to the bench after making 10 runs. Paudel was caught by Johannes Jonathan Smit off a delivery by Jack Brassell in 3.4 overs. Anil Sah, who was promoted in the batting line-up as an opener in place of Kushal Bhurtel, made 23 runs with three sixes facing 17 balls. He was caught behind the wicket by Zane Green off a delivery by Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton in the last ball of the sixth over. Gulsan Jha made a quick-fire 26 runs off 16 balls with three sixes and a four and was sent back to the pavilion in 7.2 overs. Aarif Sheikh then added 31 runs.Kushal Malla held his nerves and played a not-out 55-run knock facing 37 balls with one hit to the fence and four sixes to take Nepal to 180-8 at the end of the stipulated 20 overs. With this win, Nepal have put an end to their winless streak at home, which had stretched to four matches after losing to the Netherlands on Wednesday. They had won just one out of four matches in Kirtipur in the recently concluded Nepal Tri-Series of the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2. Nepal's 15-match winning streak at home ended when they lost their inaugural match of the League 2 against Namibia on February 15. (ANI)
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