Kenya cruised to a comfortable 5 wickets(D/L) win against host Nepal in the first match of 5th round of World Cricket League Championships.
In the rain affected match played at Tribhuwan University Cricket Ground Kenyan bowlers had an outstanding outing restricting Nepal for mere 112 runs in 36 overs and Kenyan skipper Rakep Patel played a sensible innings during the chase to guide Kenya to their 5th victory in WCLC. Kenya have 10 points from 9 matches and are placed 5th in the points table.
Patel came into bat with Kenya struggling at 21-3 chasing 104 runs in 29 overs. Patel, who has a century to his name against Nepal in T20, played a restrained innings scoring 34 runs off 52 balls. Patel added 44 runs with Collins Obuya(24) for the 4th wicket.
Patel looked extreamly cozy against Nepalese spin attack. Patel played risk free shots through out the match, except for his last shot, where he smacked Sompal for a six over covers to seal the victory for Kenya.
Sagar Pun and Sandeep Lamichhane each bagged two wickets for Nepal.
Earlier in the day the match was shortened to 38 overs owing to delayed start due to rain. Losing the toss and batting first Nepal had posted 112 runs in 36 overs losing 8 wickets before rain stopped play. A revised target for 104 in 29 overs was set for Kenya. The target was revised once more to 94 in 26 overs after rain halted play in 22nd over of the second innings.
Gyanendra Malla top scored for Nepal with 27 runs in 35 balls. Dipendra Airee made 19 off 56 balls in his debut. Shakti Gauchan and Sompal Kami contributed with 18 and 15 runs respectively adding unbeaten 30 runs for the 9th wicket to take Nepal past triple digits.
Shem Ngoche bagged 3 wickets for Kenya, while Nelson Odhiambo got 2. Neimah Odhiambo, Elijah Otieno and Rakep Patel each got a scalp a piece to restrict Nepal to small total.