Darwin, Aug. 30: Nepal ‘A’ suffered one-wicket defeat to Victoria CA XI after the Australian side held its nerve to chase down a target of 143 on the final ball of their Top End T20 Series match at Marrara Cricket Ground in Darwin on Saturday.
Despite a superb unbeaten 90 from Kushal Bhurtel and a spirited bowling performance led by Yuvraj Khatri and Bhurtel, Nepal were denied victory as Victoria CA XI reached 146-9 with no deliveries to spare.
After electing to bat, Nepal made a disastrous start, slumping to 11-3 inside the first four overs. Captain Anil Sah was dismissed for two, Mayan Yadav managed three, and Kushal Malla added only three as Victoria’s seamers ripped through the top order.
Bhurtel then produced a composed and counter-attacking innings to rescue Nepal’s total. The opener struck six fours and five sixes in an unbeaten 90 from 55 deliveries, anchoring the innings while wickets continued to fall at the other end. Deepak Dumre contributed 16, while Narayan Joshi remained unbeaten on seven as Nepal closed on 142-6 from their 20 overs.
Callum Stow returned the most economical figures for Victoria with 2-18, while Harry Hoekstra claimed 2-20.
Victoria made a flying start in reply, with Tom Rogers (36) and Harry Dixon (30) putting on 62 for the opening wicket in just over five overs.
Nepal fought back impressively after the powerplay. Bhurtel removed both Rogers and Campbell Kellaway in quick succession before a flurry of wickets reduced Victoria from 68-1 to 69-5. Yuvraj Khatri then tightened Nepal’s grip with the wickets of captain Will Sutherland, Austin Anlezark and Liam Blackford, finishing with outstanding figures of 3-20 from four overs.
Bhurtel capped an excellent all-round display by dismissing Callum Stow to finish with 3-17, while Aakash Chand claimed the wicket of Sam Elliott.
However, Harry Hoekstra kept Victoria’s chase alive with an unbeaten 35 from 26 balls. Supported by Michael Archer, he guided the hosts to their target on the final delivery despite Nepal taking nine wickets.
The result leaves Nepal empty-handed despite a determined performance in which Bhurtel starred with both bat and ball. His unbeaten 90 accounted for more than 63 per cent of Nepal’s total before he returned figures of 3-17, but his efforts were ultimately in vain as Victoria CA XI claimed a dramatic one-wicket victory.
TRN Online
