The Nepal national cricket team on Thursday succumbed to a four-wicket defeat with more than 16 overs remaining in a practice match against Nepali All Stars in the one-off game of the NRNA NCC-USA Cup at the Prairie View Cricket Complex in Houston, Texas.

But despite the defeat, the team had lots of positives to take, said Nepal coach Pubudu Dassanayake. “The practice match was good and I am happy at the moment with how things are going on,” he said.

Put to bat first, Nepal were bowled out for 190 runs before All Stars, comprising an assembled squad of players from Nepal, India, New Zealand and South Africa, scored 192-6 in 33.5 overs. The team, captained by former Nepali international Prithu Banskota, also featured Basant Regmi, the left-arm orthodox spinner.

“They came with a strong team and there are many talented players who have played top level cricket outside the US,” said Dassanayake. “The wicket we played here is very similar to Moosa where we will play the US Series of the World Cup League 2. The boys are slowly getting adjusted to the conditions here. I wanted to get better results for sure but our batting was exposed.”

Nepal again struggled in the batting department. Opener Kushal Bhurtel was out for a golden duck while his partner Aasif Sheikh got retired hurt in the last delivery of the second over. He has picked a knee injury and his situation will be known only after scans on Friday. Nepal were 3-35 after losing wickets of Rohit Kumar Paudel and Sunil Dhamala for 16 runs and four runs.

Dassanayake, however, was not much worried about his side's shaky top order. “I won't take it as a failure because Aasif had to come out (due to injury) and I am happy how Dev Khanal is shaping up,” he said. “We were expecting Aasif or Kushal Bhurtel to score at top order. Aarif batted really well in the middle order.”

Dassanayake continued, “We also wanted to field first (had we won the toss) today as it was a new condition. We don't know how the wicket is going to behave. Wicket became better and better in the evening. We need to get into situations and handle a bit of pressure in the first 10 overs to score runs. That's the same thing we are going to have at Moosa also even though it’s a flat wicket.”

Middle order batter Aarif Sheikh contributed unbeaten 60 runs, the highest of the innings, in his 74 ball knock. He hit five fences. Veteran Binod Bhandari scored 26 off 51 while number three batter Dev Khanal contributed 20 runs. Karan KC scored 21 off 17 and Md Adil Ansari scored 16 off 11.

All Stars’ New Zealand bowler Marty Kain grabbed three wickets in his six over spell conceding 36 runs. Mohammad Illyas and Adil Bhatti claimed two wickets each.

Chasing the target, former Indian Premier League player Bipul Sharma and Gourav Bajaj stitched up a 104-run partnership for the sixth wicket to guide All Stars to a comfortable victory.

The player-of-the-match Sharma played 51-ball 50 and Bajaj was unbeaten on 40 runs facing 58 deliveries. South African opener Andries Gous contributed 45 runs in his 33-ball knock. Uday Kaul scored 13 runs and Marty Kain 12 runs.

Captain Sandeep Lamichhane was the pick of Nepali bowling claiming five wickets in his 10 over spell. The leg spinner conceded 49 runs in his 10-over spell with a maiden over.

Nepal are set to play against locals Houston Hurricanes on Saturday in their second practice match. Coach Dassanayake expects strong opposition from the local side. “They will be coming with a strong side and it is good to vie against a tough team ahead of the tournament,” he said. “We are going to put the best team against them.”

Nepal are in the US to play the Triangular Series of the ICC World Cup League 2 involving Oman apart from Nepal and the host US beginning from June 8 to 16.