Ace spinner Lamichanne spins Nepal to victory over Scotland

 Spin maestro Sandeep Lamichhane produced a  match winning performance to guide Nepal to  a  thrilling two wicket victory against the hosts Scotland in the Twenty20  Tri-series in Glasgow, Scotland.

In breezy conditions,the decision to  bowl first after winning the toss narrowly paid off  for the winners at the end of the day.

The  Nepali bowlers  excelled and put in quite a  show.They rose to the occasion,delivering an excellent performance,which ultimately paved the way for their team’s victory.

Ace  leg -spinner  Lamichhane was the pick of the bowlers.He was outstanding and  bowled brilliantly throughout.

When he was brought into the attack,he did not let  Karan KC( 2 wickets), Dipendra Singh Airee(2 wickets ) and Lalit Rajbhansi’s( 1 wicket) good work go to waste as he effectively built on the foundation laid by them.

He proved himself to be a potent bowler. He mixed experience,accuracy,guile, deceptive flight and sharp turns in his lethal four overs. He ended his brilliant  bowling spell with  four wickets  for eleven runs and a maiden over.

He  flummoxed the  batters who  mightily struggled  to make runs. He virtually ceased the run flow. It did not  take long for him to  mop up the tail and bowl out the   home team for a paltry 97  in 19.4 overs. 

Nepal almost stumbled,chasing the small target,however,they managed to squeak through in the last over with one ball to spare and two wickets in hand.

Opener Kushal Bhurtel  knock of 30 and handy contributions by the middle order batters helped the team win their first match in the series.

In the opener Nepal had  narrowly lost to the Netherlands in a dramatic third super over.

 

The match was extended to super overs to decide the outcome after the teams were tied,scoring the  same number of runs in the allotted 20 overs. 

In the super overs, teams fortunes swung like a pendulum before the Dutch had the last  laugh.

The highlight of Nepal’s batting was skipper Rohit Paudel and Kushal Bhurtel’s   knock of 48 and 34 respectively .

Likewise in the bowling department, spinner Sandeep Lamichhane continued his good form with a three wicket haul for 18 runs in 4 overs.

Debutant Nandan Yadav had another good outing. He claimed two wickets and remained undefeated on 12.

The three sides are tied  in points with one win and one loss.The series is wide open at this stage.The teams play against each other for the second time to decide the winners of the series.

Head Coach  Stuart Law  team takes on the Netherlands and Scotland on Thursday and Friday  respectively. 

Team Nepal  stand a good  chance to win the series if they are able to improve particularly their batting and bat consistently throughout the innings. 

They have to up the ante for the last crucial  ties as well. This is a great opportunity for them  to end the Scotland challenge on a winning note. Certainly,it  is doable.