Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) XI lost to Dena Bank by 28 runs on Monday in its second match of the 31st All India Uttarakhand Gold Cup Cricket Tournament in Dehradun, India. CAN XI, led by Prithu Baskota, had sealed a two-wicket victory over Uttararakhand XI on Sunday.
On Monday, Dena Bank elected to bat and was all out for 150 runs in 40 overs. In reply, Nepal was all out for 122 runs.
After a solid start with a 50-run opening stand, Dena Bank lost its first wicket in 11th over. Pradeep Airee stuck twice in two overs to reduce Dena to 64/2. Sagar Pun then claimed four wickets and Dena was at 123/7. Bhuwan Karki also claimed three wicket giving away 25 runs in eight overs. CAN XI gave away 24 extras and 8 overthrow runs.
CAN XI started the chase cautiously to reach 21/0 in 6 overs. However, it failed to consolidate and three quick wickets reduced it to 25/3 in 11 overs. Binod Bhandari batted superbly. Naresh Budhayer and Bhandari added 44 runs. CAN XI was at 103/4 in 31 overs but it went down to 104/6 and soon collapsed to 122 all out.
Bhandari scored 66 runs but his wicket in bowling power-play did the damage.
“Overall we played well against the team that includes some Ranji Trophy players but we failed to win it,” said CAN XI coach Binod Das via email.