Scotland end T20 series with win over Nepal
T20 Tri-Series, GlasgowScotland 193-5: Munsey 78, McMullen 42; Bhurtel 2-20Nepal 159 : Singh 43*, Airee 34; Greaves 3-27Scotland win by 34 runsScorecard
Scotland signed off the T20 Tri-Series with a comfortable 34-run victory over Nepal to move into next month's World Cup qualifiers in more confident mood.George Munsey starred with the bat, whacking 78 from 39 balls to help the Scots set an imposing target of 194 at a sweltering Clydesdale in Glasgow.Nepal, who had enjoyed two wins from their three matches in the series with Scotland and the Netherlands, never really looked like chasing successfully.Munsey, who hit an associate-record 191 in a recent ODI against the Dutch, resumed that form as he managed six sixes before being caught chasing another boundary."Everyone mucked in and got the job done," Munsey told BBC Scotland."I really enjoy getting going when I can especially in front of a home crowd. I just love hitting sixes."I've just got to get myself in and be smart and enjoy the moment, thankfully it happened today."When Munsey departed he and Brandon McMullen had steered Scotland to 134-2, but when McMullen was bowled by Sandeep Lamichhane four balls later Doug Watson's side briefly struggled as Finlay McCreath and Richie Berrington were caught before reaching double figures.
But Matthew Cross and and Michael Leask steadied the ship and shared an unbeaten partnership of 48 to see Scotland close to 200 runs.Nepal's chase started in erratic fashion after Kushal Bhurtel's ramp shot from McMullen's delivery in the first over was smartly taken by Finlay McCreath on the boundary.By the time captain Rohit Paudel chipped one from Mark Watt to Chris Greaves, the tourists were 82-5 in the 11th over.Dipendra Singh Airee lead the fightback with an effective 34 from 33 balls, but up stepped Greaves to bowl him, and then Lamichhane in consecutive deliveries to leave Nepal 117-8 and their hopes of victory looking bleak.Greaves grabbed his third of the day when he had Rijan Dhakal caught, and despite Rupesh Singh lasting until the end with a haul of 43, Nepal's resistance ended when Lalit Rajbanshi was run out.Scotland will now look to next month's qualifiers in the Netherlands when they face the Dutch, Italy, Jersey, and Guernsey for a place at the World Cup in India and Sri Lanka next year.The ended with two wins and two losses in the three-way series, as did Nepal and the Netherlands."The key takeaways for me is the squad is growing now," head coach Watson told BBC Scotland. "We have 15 guys here who played with their heart on their sleeve for Scotland. They're developing nicely but it's a young group. "We've had some really tough and close games which bodes well for the future."
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