Despite a five-wicket haul by allrounder Dhirendra Chand, Nepal suffered its first defeat in the warm-up matches in Sri Lanka as Sri Lankan Board Academy registered an emphatic 85-run win in the practice match held today in Colombo.
Nepali captain Binod Das won the toss and elected to field first to give maximum exposure to the bowlers. As expected, Nepali medium pacer Dhirendra Chand who was summoned to the squad after injured Manjeet Shrestha was ruled out from the team, dismissed three toporder batsmen cheaply.
The Academy team of Sri Lanka recovered from 113-7 to pile up fighting 185 runs on the board before being bowled out in 47.3 overs. N Wickramarathne, whom Dhirendra claimed later, scored brisk 42 runs and received a match-turning support from number nine batsman D Abeydeera (33).
Ace spinners Rajkumar Pradhan and Lakpa Lama disappointed while Sanjam Regmi and Shakti Gauchan each picked up a wicket. Though Regmi was expensive, Shakti conceded only 24 runs in his eight-over spell. Skipper Binod Das also notched a wicket for Nepal.
Nepal, playing without star batsman Sarad Vesawkar who is leaving the tour midway due to illness, succumbed to accurate Sri Lankan attack and could score just 100 runs in 30.5 overs. Nepal’s total was hugely boosted by 25 extra runs conceded by the local team.
Shakti showed a little resistance after Paresh Lohani (6), Mehaboob Alam (9), Kaniska Chaugain (4), Dipendra Chaudhary (0), Paras Khadka (0) and Binod Das (3) returned back to pavilion cheaply. Wicket keeper Manoj Baishya supported Shakti with 14 but it was not enough for Nepal.
Indika and Parera of the local team took three wickets each while Vinapathairana notched two. The team will play its last match before leaving for Malaysia on Tuesday.