Neplays

The Veterans Cup cricket tournament between Nepal and England veterans has begun today in Kathmandu.

The tournament comprises four matches between Hertfordshire Sixty Plus, a team of British players who played cricket in the 1980s and 1990s, and Nepal Veterans, a team of former senior Nepali players.

In the first match played at Tribhuvan Cricket Ground in Kirtipur today, Hertfordshire secured a 37-run victory over Nepal Veterans after scoring 197 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in 40 overs.

Duncan Elder was the top scorer for Hertfordshire with an unbeaten half-century of 51 runs. Colin Walter contributed 49 runs before being dismissed, and Selius added 18 runs. Raju Basnyat of Nepal took 3 wickets, conceding 28 runs, while Kiran Shamser Jabara took 2 wickets, giving away 26 runs, Umesh Gupta took one wicket spending 18 runs in two overs and Khem Thapa took 1 wicket, conceding 19 runs.

Chasing a target of 198 runs, the Nepal Veterans team was restricted to 159 runs in 30.4 overs. Paul Carmer and John Smith of Hertfordshire took 4 wickets each, while Vinod Das scored an unbeaten 43 runs for the Nepali team. Samson Jung Thapa contributed 28 runs, and Raju Basnyat added 16 runs. Paul Karmer of Hertfordshire and Raju Basnyat of Nepal were jointly declared players of the match.

Overall, the match was a well-fought contest between two experienced teams, and the upcoming matches promise to be exciting as well.