Opener Kushal Bhurtel and Dipendra Singh Airee scored half centuries each for hosts Nepal and Kishore Mahato grabbed five wickets as they pulled off a comfortable six-wicket victory over Zimbabwe 'A' to win the three-match One-Day series 2-1 at the TU cricket ground in Kirtipur on Monday.

Sent into bat first, the visitors were bowled out for 213 runs with five balls to spare in the game reduced to 33 over per side because of wet outfield caused by overnight rain. Chasing the challenging target, Bhurtel scored 84 runs and Airee remained unbeaten on 60 runs as Nepal made 214-4 in 30.1 overs.

Nepal made a strong start to their run chase as openers Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh shared a 73-run stand for the first wicket. Sheikh scored 29 off 37 that included two fences and a six. He was dismissed in the first delivery of the 13th over after being caught by Jonathan Campbell off Brandon Mavuta.

Bhurtel, who smashed seven fences and four maximums, departed as third wicket in the 21st over. He was caught by Roy Kaia off Mavuta. While Sunil Dhamala departed as second wicket for six runs, Rohit Paudel was out for a duck.

But Airee and Binod Bhandari shared an unbeaten partnership of 84-runs for the fifth wicket. Airee clobbered four fences and three sixes in his 43-ball knock. Bhandari cracked three fences in his 28-ball knock.

Zimbabwe bowler Mavuta alone grabbed three wickets conceding 46 runs in his six-over spell. Brad Evans picked another one wicket in his six-over bowling giving away 38 runs.

Zimbabwe opener Tadiwanashe Marumani contributed 50 runs, the highest of the innings, in his quickfire knock of 31 balls. He smashed seven fours and two sixes before being caught by Rohit Paudel in a delivery by Dipendra Singh Airee.

Kudzai Maunze and Roy Kaia were other players to make remarkable contributions with bat scoring 39 runs and 36 runs respectively. Manuza hit four boundaries and two sixes in his 34-ball knock before he was caught by Aasif Sheikh off Mahato. Kaia's 48-ball knock included three fences and a six before he was run out by Basir Ahamad.

Captain Tony Munyonga played a quickfire 12-ball 24, Cephas Zhuwao scored 18-ball 16 while Luke Jongwe hit 15-ball 19.

The 22-year-old Mahato, playing his first game for the national side, was the pick of Nepal's bowling, claiming five wickets. The pacer, also named player-of-the-match, conceded 43 runs in his seven-over spell including a maiden.

Sompal Kami grabbed two wickets while Karan KC and Airee pocketed one wicket each. Kami gave away 45 runs in his seven overs bowling. Captain Sandeep Lamichhane remained wicketless in his six over bowling and conceded 56 runs.

Nepal's all-rounder Karan KC was named the player-of-the-series.

Nepal had invited Zimbabwe for Twenty20 and One-Day series, both three-match each. The T20 series played earlier had finished in a 1-1 tie. Nepal had hosted the series to fine-tune the team's preparation for the upcoming Triangular Series of the ICC World Cup League 2 to be held in the USA from June 6 to 16.