Batting woes condemn Zimbabwe A to defeat in second one-dayer
Zimbabwe A – 87 all out in 31.5 overs (Johnathan Campbell 27, Brad Evans 20*, Cephas Zhuwao 10; Sompal Kami 3/16, Karan KC 3/17, Sandeep Lamichhane 2/26)
Nepal – 89-1 in 11.2 overs (Sunil Dhamala 38, Aasif Sheikh 34*, Binod Bhandari 4*; Brandon Mavuta 1/26)
Nepal won by nine points
Zimbabwe A had a day to forget on the park in the second one-day match against Nepal at Kirtipur on Saturday, being bowled out for 87 and losing easily by nine wickets.
The tourists were as usual put in to bat when they lost the toss, and the disaster began from the very first ball, when Innocent Kaia was caught off the bowling of Karan KC.
Tadiwanashe Marumani was the next man out, at 15 in the fourth over, when he was caught at the wicket off Sompal Kami.
Cephas Zhuwao hit a six and a four, but otherwise struggled to score in his usual style, for he faced 13 balls for these 10 runs before he was also caught off Karan.
Wickets continued to tumble: Roy Kaia went for four, Clive Madande for one and Tony Munyonga for two, as the score reached 30 for six wickets in the 12th over, with Karan and Kami taking three wickets each.
Finally, there came something of a stand, as Johnathan Campbell and Luke Jongwe fought back and more than doubled this meagre score.
At 65 in the 23rd over, however, disaster returned, as Jongwe was bowled by Sagar Dhakal for eight, and off the very next delivery Campbell was run out for 27.
In the following over, the score plunged to 66 for nine wickets, as Brandon Mavuta was out lbw to Sandeep Lamichhane for one.
Fortunately, the last-wicket pair fought back, with Victor Nyauchi playing a defensive game while Brad Evans went for his strokes whenever he could, judging well which balls to hit.
He scored 20 not out off 35 balls, with a six and a four, when Nyauchi, who faced 17 balls without scoring, got stumped.
The innings thus ended after 31.5 overs for 87.
Of the bowlers, Karan finished with three wickets for 17 and Kami three for 16.
The aggressive Nepalese opening batters almost wiped off the runs needed for victory between themselves.
Aasif Sheikh scored 34 not out off only 31 balls, with six fours, while Sunil Dhamala scored 38 before he was out with the score at 79, caught by Jongwe off Mavuta just short of victory.
Binod Bhandari hit a boundary, not out, and Sheikh hit Campbell for the winning four as Nepal completed an overwhelming nine-wicket victory off only 11.2 overs.
