Kathmandu, March 20:

Dipendra Chaudhary and Shakti Gauchan shone with the bat as CAN T20 Team defeated Merylebone Cricket Club (MCC) by five wickets in the Twenty20 match here at the TU Stadium today.

Electing to bat first after skipper Min Patel won the toss, MCC scored 124-5 in 20 overs and the home team overcame the target losing five wickets with 10 balls to spare. Man of the match Chaudhary scored a quick fire 50 off 43 balls hitting four fours and a six, while Gauchan scored 45 off 47 balls including five boundaries and a six.

The CAN team had a poor start when opener Paresh Lohani (1) was run out with the fourth ball of the innings. Gauchan joined Chaudhary at the crease and the duo added 100 runs for the second wicket. The home team was cruising towards an easy victory at 106-1 in 14 overs but lost four wickets for just eight runs in the space of 16 balls to come under self-created pressure.

Gauchan was caught while going for a big hit at 106 in 14.4 overs, while skipper Paras Khadka was out for duck next ball off Luke O’Reilly. Sharad Vesawkar survived the hat-trick ball with a cover drive but could not last for long. When Chaudhary was out, the home side were 114-5.

Gyanendra Malla scored two consecutive fours and took two runs with the third ball to tie the scores and Sunam Gautam wrapped up the victory with a single. O’Reilly finished with 2-7 off 2.2 overs and Peter King and Glen Read took one wicket each.

Earlier, skipper Min Patel struck three sixes to top score for the visitors with 36-ball 39. Keith Parsons (29), Neil Jones (22) and Matt Walker (11) were the only other batsmen to score in double figures. Sanjam Regmi took 2-13 off four overs, while Binod Das, Paras Khadka and Basanta Regmi claimed one each.

The MCC team will play their third limited over match on Wednesday and is scheduled to play a three-day match from Friday at the TU Stadium.