Paras Khadka's century and Veswakar 74* won Nepal a thriller against Namibia || Match Report

Sharad Veswakar batting in Nepal vs Namibia game

"Nepal beat Namibia by 3 wickets with 1 ball remaining in ICC WCL Championship at TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur"

It was a game that every cricket lover would have loved to watch. Brilliant knocks from batsmen, bowlers bringing the game back in hand and a thriller ending.

Stephan Braad's 51 of  78 balls assisted Namibia to put up a score of 239 on the board, along with Zane Green (47), Sarel Burger (43) and a little cameo from Kotze scoring 34 from 15 balls. But all efforts were dwarfed by Nepal's captain Paras Khadka, who played an important knock and scored the second ever hundred by Nepalese batsmen in ODI cricket to see his team win the second game of ICC WCLC with Namibia at TU cricket ground

While Khadka played his aggressive role, the unsung hero of Nepal, Sharad Veswakar played a crucial supporting role in 3rd wicket partnership of 167 runs. He remained not out and scored the winning run yet again.

It was a very different wicket today, batting friendly, unlike the wicket on from the first game which was spinner's paradise. Nepal had won the toss and Khadka elected to field first. The decision might have been influenced by the previous game where they had won batting second and considering the flat pitch would assist in chasing the target.

As expected, Namibia's opener took advantage of the pitch and scored 91 from 20 overs without any loss of wickets. But it was not the same story after Sandeep Lamichane provided Nepal first wicket by dismissing Baard. Namibia lost 5 quick wickets within the span of just 4 overs and it looked like Gorkhali spinners were dominating. Namibia made a great come back at the slogging overs with Burger's 43 and Kotze's lightning fast 32 of 15 balls which ultimately powered Namibia to set a target of 240 for Nepal.

Nepal then started their innings in no hurry, looking to build a good foundation before they hit the next gear. But Namibia got an early breakthrough when Naresh Budayair was caught off guard by Smit and given lbw out at the 8th over while Gyanendra Malla had an early departure too at the 13th over. Everything was going downwards for the home side but a very crucial partnership from the skipper Khadka and Veswakar helped Nepal to get back in the driving seat. Khadka was caught out soon after he scored his century and the untested lower order of Nepal crumbled too quickly.

It was all silence around the ground with more than ten thousand spectators holding their breath. Nepal required six runs from six balls! New batsman Basant Regmi was on the strike, Smith charged down with his pace bowl and Regmi somehow managed  to take a single, rotate the strike and put Veswakar on. The second ball, Veswakar strikes the ball towards boundary but the Namibian fielder dived in and managed to keep the ball in, meanwhile, Veswakar and Regmi had taken 3 runs putting Regmi on strike. The third ball, Regmi misses it, no runs! 2 runs required off 3 balls, all eyes on the batsman. Smith bowls the fourth ball short, bounces over the shoulder of Regmi, Veswakar calls for a run and Regmi runs a bye.

Nepal needs 1 run from 2 balls remaining, the unsung hero, the man who batted through all the hard times in the game and build the innings, Sharad Veswakar is on strike! All hopes on him. Smith delivers the 5th ball, Veswakar hits it through a gap on the off side for four runs, the ground erupts with a huge roar, Nepal beats Namibia in a thriller match! Celebrations all around the ground. Nepal had batted really well to deserve this win.