KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 5
Arjun Saud, Asif Sheikh and Basir Ahamad scored half centuries as Nepal defeated Kenya by six wickets in the third and final One Day match at the Gymkhana Club grounds in Nairobi today.
Batting first, the hosts posted 255-9 in their allotted 50 overs before Nepal raced to 268-4 with 17 balls to spare. With the win, Nepal clean swept the threematch series. Nepal had won the five-match Twenty20 International series 3-2 before the limited-over series.
Chasing a modest target, Nepal openers Saud and Sheikh put on 73 runs inside 15 overs before the latter was dismissed for 43- ball 56 that included nine boundaries and two sixes.
Saud and Gyanendra Malla then shared a 71-run partnership for the second wicket before Nepal lost three quick wickets in the space of nine runs to be 163-4.
Saud scored 90 off 58 balls with the help of three boundaries and two sixes, while Malla contributed 51-ball 33. Dev Khanal (one) fell cheaply. Stand-in skipper Rohit Kumar Paudel and Basir Ahamad then took the team home safely adding 95 runs for the unbroken fifth wicket. Paudel remained unbeaten on run-a-ball 46 hitting four boundaries, while Ahmed scored 49-ball 52 not out that included seven boundaries.
Viraj Patel took 2-47 for Kenya, while Shem Ngoche and Yash Talati bagged one wicket each.
Earlier, Collins Obua and Lucas Ndandason scored half centuries to help the hosts post fighting total.
Obuya top scored for Kenya with 84 off 111 balls that included seven boundaries and two sixes, while Ndandason hit five each fours and sixes in his unbeaten 59 off just 27 balls.
Opener Sukdeep Singh scored 37, while Emmanuel Bundi (23) and Shem Ngoche (17) also contributed in double figures. Sompal Kami and Aadil Ansari took two wickets each for Nepal, while Basir Ahamad and Shahab Alam claimed one apiece. Nepal's Asif Sheikh was named the player of the series.
Nepal skipper Sandeep Lamichhane was declared the man of the series in the five-match T20I series. Vice-captain Rohit Kumar Paudel led the team in One Day series in the absence of Lamichhane, who left for the West Indies for Caribbean Premier League.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 6, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
