Mutumbami and Burl blast Zimbabwe to victory over Nepal
They had to work hard for the result having been reduced to 37/4 in pursuit of their target of 133, largely thanks to Sandeep Lamichhane's three wickets in his opening two overs. Zimbabwe rallied though and got over the line comfortably in the end thanks to the big hitting of Richmond Mutumbami (40 from 28 balls) and Ryan Burl (41 from 36 balls).
Earlier, Nepal had gotten off to a shaky start with none of their top three scoring at a strike rate of more than 100. They posted a competitive score thanks to Dipendra Singh Airee's 33-ball 40 and Sompal Kami, whose three sixes saw him end on 25 from 14 balls.
It would not be enough though and leaves Nepal facing an important match against the hosts when they meet tomorrow.
Paras Khadka won the toss and walked out to open the batting himself with Ishan Pandey. He looked to be regretting that decision when Pandey walked back for just four on debut though. They looked to be recovering but lost the wickets of Khadha (18), Aarif Sheikh (8) and Kushal Malla (2) in a cluster to leave themselves 55/4 in the 11th over. It was then up to Airee to bat with the tail, which is something he did well, finding the boundary five times in his 33-ball 40 before being dismissed by Sean Williams.
His innings allowed Sundeep Jora (17), Binod Bhandari (11) and Kami to free their arms and get their side up to 132/6 after 20 overs. Williams finished as the pick of the bowlers with 2/19 from his four overs.
Zimbabwe's chase started well with Brian Chari (19), on his T20I debut, hitting three consecutive boundaries in the first over but Nepal soon responded and Lamichhane stepped up to send the Chevrons into a spin. He picked up the wickets of Regis Chakabva (0), Tinotenda Mutombodzi (0) and Williams (0) for a golden duck to put his side into the ascendancy. When Khadka went through the gate of Timycen Maruma (12) in the 10th over, Zimbabwe were 64/5 with Burl and Mutumbami at the crease.
The pair consolidated, playing out Lamichhane's final over, before launching a brutal assault from the 15th over. Mutumbani kicked things off by smoking Abinash Bohara and Malla into the stands before Burl joined in, completing the Malla over with two sixes and a four. That left them requiring just four runs from the final three overs and they knocked them off with ease, completing the game with a two from the first ball on the 19th over.