Scotland’s cricket team experienced a stunning upset defeat by Nepal. It was a low scoring game in Glasgow’s T20 Tri-Series, which featured Ireland. Match summary Nepal won by 2 wickets in an exciting finish. The wild extra inning finish was a great way to gloss over that fact.
Scotland batted first and were all out for just 97 in 19.4 overs. Top-scoring with 46 runs, Michael Leask was the top performer for Scotland. By contrast, the remainder of the batting order fell away – only Matthew Cross managed double figures before he was picked off for 15.
Nepal’s bowlers played a significant role in limiting Scotland’s score, with Sandeep Lamichhane leading the charge. He had figures of 4-11, ripping through Scotland’s lineup in no time. The Scottish side lost five wickets in the powerplay, a shocking statistic that saw their ability to create any of the required momentum from there on out quickly jeopardised.
Southern Australia’s Mark Watt endured a one-over exit as he fell to Dipendra Singh Airee. Yet this came on the just the fifth delivery of the match. Finlay McCreath and Brandon McMullen were equally culpable as both were sent back for careless strikes. Liam Naylor’s unfortunate run-out further compounded Scotland’s woes as they faced mounting pressure.
In reply, Nepal had to accomplish the easy target of 98 runs. After a shaky start, they stabilized a bit courtesy of opener Kushal Bhurtel’s 30 runs. Dipendra Singh Airee chipped in with 14 runs to aid his side’s chase. Nepal batted, with regular intervals of losing wickets severely hampering their runs. They ended up chasing down their target in only 19.5 overs and scored an imposing 98 runs, losing 8 wickets.
Opposing bowler Safyaan Sharif was the hero for Scotland, taking 2/13. Lamichhane wrecked havoc on the lower order of opposition batters for Nepal. His almost-magical performance not only delivered a Miami game-winning touchdown in a thrilling Miami comeback, victory leaving just beyond their grasp.
Scotland’s captain, Matthew Cross, reflected on the team’s performance after the match.
“Losing five wickets in the powerplay, you don’t win many games like that. The pitch was trickier but we expect more of ourselves to build a score when it is like that.” – Scotland captain Cross
He spoke to the challenges his team has had to deal with and stressed the importance of learning and getting better as we go.
“We didn’t bat very well to be honest. I think the first five or six overs being five wickets down is tough to come back from.” – Scotland captain Cross
Despite the early mishaps, Cross was still encouraged by what his team did in the second half of play.
“Having said that, I think we put in a decent effort to make the game go as close to the wire as we could. So I’m proud of the performance in the second half.” – Scotland captain Cross
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