Kenya lose to Nepal in T20 opener at Nairobi Gymkhana

Kenya's Collins Obuya bats against Nepal at Nairobi Gymkana Club on August 25, 2022. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Kenya lost the opener in the T20 series by five wickets against the visiting Nepal at the Nairobi Gymkhana on Thursday.

The visitors triumphed in the match with 4 balls left to take a 1-0 lead in the five match contest.

Sompal Kami of Nepal was named man of the match with a 3 wicket haul in 22 bowls.

"I'm happy with our performance, the start was not easy but we gradually managed to get into the game," Kenya skipper Shem Ngoche told Standard Sports after the game.

"We had very good batting toward the end of the match. We are also delighted with the number of fans who turned up to watch the match.

"It's a good sign that things are bright for Kenya in the future," Ngoche said.

Nepal captain, Sandeep Lamichhane agreed that the Kenyans were worthy spinners in the match despite their narrow loss.

"We are happy to have nicked victory in the first game, we are also enjoying our stay in Kenya which I think is a very cool country," Lamichhane said.

Kenya's head coach David Obuya rued the loss saying his charges didn't bowl well at the start of the tie.

"Our fielding was good , it's in the bowling that we gave out lots of extras," Obuya said.

"Our batting towards the end was also excellent, especially Lucas Oluoch did so well in the department.

"In our next match on Friday (today), we will have to accelerate our batting in the middle to counter the extra losses," Obuya said.

The two nations will battle the second game of their T20 contest beginning 1pm today [Friday, August 26].