Nepal A pulled off a strong chase at Mulpani Cricket Ground, beating the United States by three wickets after overhauling a target of 263 in Match 4 of the Nepal A One-Day Series.
The home side reached 263 for 7 in 49.1 overs after a balanced batting effort, led by Mayan Yadav's 72 off 80 balls. He struck four fours and two sixes and played the central hand in Nepal A's successful pursuit after the chase had been set up by useful contributions from several batters.
Earlier, the USA posted 262 for 8 in 50 overs after electing to bat first. Smit Patel anchored the innings with a fine 116 off 107 balls, hitting 10 fours and five sixes. He was the standout batter for the visitors, while Harmeet Singh and Jasdeep Singh added late runs with unbeaten knocks of 25 and 33 respectively.
Nepal A's bowlers shared the wickets around rather than relying on a single dominant spell. Pawan Sarraf picked up 2 wickets, while Bipin Khatri, Shahab Alam, Basir Ahamad, Sher Malla, Rashid Khan and Narayan Joshi claimed one each. The spread of wickets helped keep the USA from pushing beyond a manageable total despite Smit's century.
In reply, Nepal A made a steady start through Trit Raj Das and captain Anil Sah, who scored 23 and 27 respectively. Sundeep Jora then added 36, but the chase was still delicately placed until Mayan took control through the middle overs.
Kushal Malla supported him with 33 off 49, and the pair helped move Nepal A closer to the target before both fell late in the innings. Basir Ahamad contributed 18, while Pawan Sarraf remained unbeaten on 24 off 15 balls and Deepak Dumre finished not out on 2 to close out the chase.
For the USA, Milind Kumar took 2 wickets, while Saurabh Netravalkar, Nosthush Kenjige, Rushil Ugarkar, Harmeet Singh and Sanjay Krishnamurthi took one apiece. But Nepal A held their nerve well enough in the final stretch to complete the chase with five balls remaining.
The result gave Nepal A a satisfying win in a match shaped by one century from the visitors and one composed chase from the hosts.
