KATHMANDU, June 21: Former Sri Lanka captain and current Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene is set to lead the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) that will face Nepal and Netherlands in a triangular T20 series at Lord's on July 29.
The MCC’s squad has so far announced three Scotland players to represent them on the day including Dylan Budge, right-arm quick Alasdair Evans and left-arm spinner Mark Watt. All three players were part of the country's historic ODI win against England at Edinburgh on June 10.
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Jayawardene, who appears twice on the Honours Board in the visitors' dressing room at Lord's for his centuries against England in 2002 and 2006, became an Honorary Life Member of the MCC in 2015. In 2017, he was signed by Lancashire as a non-overseas recruit for the T20 Blast, where he previously played for Sussex and Somerset.
This will be Nepal’s return to Lord's after their debut at the ground, in 2016, when they defeated the MCC by 41 runs in a 50-over contest arranged to mark the 200-year relationship between Britain and Nepal.
The triangular T20 tournament will also mark Nepal’s first overseas stint after gaining the elusive ODI status back in March. The matches against MCC will be marked as T20 matches whereas Nepal will re-start their T20I rivalry during the match against Netherlands after playing a 4-match bilateral series back in 2016 before the ICC World T20 Qualifiers.
This will be Netherlands' second visit to the venue in six years; the side last played there in the ECB's 40-over competition, in 2012. The Netherlands stunned hosts England by snaring a four-wicket victory opening match of the 2009 World Twenty20 in the same historic venue of Lord’s.
