KATHMANDU - Nepal A started their Top End T20 Series campaign with an eight-wicket defeat against Northern Territory Strike at Marrara Oval, Darwin, on Friday.
After winning the toss, NT Strike elected to bowl first and restricted Nepal A to 122/8 in 20 overs. Pawan Sarraf was Nepal A's highest scorer with 41 off 49 balls, while Lokesh Bam added 16 off 13 deliveries.
Nepal A made a poor start with the bat. Kushal Bhurtel was dismissed for a duck in the opening over, while captain Anil Sah and Trit Raj Das also fell inside the powerplay. Nepal A were reduced to 43/3 in 7.3 overs and failed to build enough momentum in the middle overs.
Hamish Martin was the pick of the NT Strike bowlers, taking 3/19 from four overs. William Blair also bowled a tight spell, returning 1/11 from two overs.
Chasing 123, NT Strike lost Jaga Koduru and D'Arcy Short inside the first six overs, with Pawan removing both batters. Short made 23 off 18 balls, while Koduru scored eight.
But Douwtjie Hoogenboezem and Jordan Silk then sealed the chase with an unbeaten partnership. Hoogenboezem scored 50 off 37 balls, while Silk made 42 off 28 deliveries as NT Strike reached 123/2 in 15 overs.
Pawan was Nepal A's only wicket-taker, finishing with 2/13 from three overs. Shahab Alam bowled economically with 0/12 from two overs, but Nepal A did not have enough runs to defend.
Nepal A will look to bounce back in their next group-stage match against Bangladesh High Performance (BHP) team tomorrow.
