Nepal vs Papua New Guinea: Sandeep Lamichhane leads Nepal to win in tri-series opener
India Today
Nepal vs Papua New Guinea: Sandeep Lamichhane picked up 3 wickets as Nepal overcame a stiff fight from PNG to win the opening match of their tri-series at home.
Nepal began the T20 tri-series involving Papua New Guinea and Malaysia with a win over PNG in their first match on Monday at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur.
Nepal rode on wicketkeeper-batter Aasif Sheikh's 35-ball 43 and quickfire thirties from Rohit Paudel and Aarif Sheikh to post a mammoth total of 183 in 20 overs.
Karan KC, who batted at No. 8, hit a 7-ball 14 as Nepal never took the foot off the pedal in aggressive innings.
PNG bowlers Alei Nao, Chad Soper, Charles Amini picked up 2 wickets each but they were not able to stop the flow of runs.
Defending the hefty total, Nepal rode on captain Sandeep Lamichhane's 3-wicket haul and Karan's 2-wicket haul to seal a 15-run win.
PNG lost their opener Tony Ura early but Lega Siaka got going, hitting a 10-ball 21. However, their middle order failed.
PNG were reeling at 100 for 7 but Norman Vanua gave Nepal a scare, hitting 52 in just 29 balls. He smashed 5 boundaries and 4 sixes before Karn trapped him LBW.
