Nepal: Nepal registered a comfortable six-wicket victory over Canada in their second warm-up match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Thursday.
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Source: Cricket Association
Chasing
a target of 162, Nepal reached 162 for four in 18 overs, with 12 balls to
spare, riding on an aggressive batting display led by Aasif Sheikh and Sundeep
Jora.
Aasif
top-scored with 58 off just 29 balls, striking six fours and three sixes,
before retiring out as part of Nepal’s warm-up strategy. Jora provided solid
support with a fluent 44 off 30 deliveries, while Gulsan Jha remained unbeaten
on 31. Vice-captain Dipendra Singh Airee added an unbeaten nine at the end to
seal the win.
Earlier,
Canada posted 161 for six in their allotted 20 overs after opting to bat.
Navneet Dhaliwal scored 41, while wicketkeeper Shreyas Movva remained unbeaten
on 38 off 19 balls to give Canada a competitive total.
Nepal’s
bowling was led by Sandeep Lamichhane, who returned impressive figures of two
for 14 from four overs. Kushal Bhurtel and Sompal Kami also picked up key
wickets to restrict Canada in the middle overs.
Nepal
were playing the match under the leadership of vice-captain Dipendra Singh
Airee, with captain Rohit Paudel absent due to his participation in the ICC’s
Captains’ Day event in Mumbai.
The win
followed Nepal’s seven-wicket victory over the UAE earlier this week and marked
a strong end to their warm-up fixtures ahead of the World Cup. Two years ago,
Canada had defeated Nepal by 63 runs in a warm-up match in Dallas, making
Thursday’s result a measure of redemption for the Nepali side.
Nepal
will open their T20 World Cup campaign against England on Sunday at Mumbai’s
Wankhede Stadium.
