Sandeep Lamichhane becomes the fastest bowler to reach 100th ODI wicket milestone while Kushal Malla smashes fastest ODI century for Rhinos, who also post their all-time-highest total.
Sandeep Lamichhane became the fastest bowler to grab 100 ODI wickets as Nepal beat Oman by 84 runs in the ongoing ACC Premier Cup at TU ground in Kirtipur on Friday.
Sent to bat first, Nepal posted a mammoth total of 310-8 despite a shaky start and then bowled out Oman for 226 runs in 46.3 overs.
Nepal lost openers Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh without opening score. Bhurtel was trapped leg-before by Bilal Khan in 2.2 overs while Sheikh was bowled out by Kaleemullah in 3.4 overs.
Tottering at 72-4 at a moment, Kushal Malla gave a much needed stability to Nepali innings scoring the fastest ODI century. He played a quickfire knock of 108 runs facing 64 deliveries before being caught by Ayan Khan in 40.4 overs.
He reached the 100 runs milestone off 59 deliveries that included nine hits to fences and sixes each. He surpassed captain Rohit Paudel’s record fastest century facing 91 deliveries against Papua New Guinea (PNG) in the World Cup League 2 match at TU ground.
Adjudged the player-of-the-match, Malla also became the youngest and only the sixth Nepali batter to hit a century. Sompal Kami also cracked a half-century putting up an unbeaten 48-ball 63 guiding Nepal to their all-time-highest ODI total. The home team eclipsed their previous best total of 297 runs scored against PNG in League 2 last month.
Chasing the target, Oman’s Mohammad Nadeem smashed seven boundaries and a six, cracking a half-century and putting up 65 runs off 84, the highest of the innings before his dismissal. Sandeep Goud also contributed 46 runs in his 56-ball knock before being caught by Kami in 41.1 overs.
For the Rhinos, Sandeep Lamichhane and Karan KC picked up three wickets each, restricting the visitors to 226 runs.
Leg-spinner Lamichhane became the fastest bowler to grab 100 wickets in the ODI format, achieving the feat in just 42 appearances. He surpassed the record of Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan who previously achieved the same feat from 44 matches.
Likewise, Dipendra Singh Airee grabbed two wickets, giving away 22 runs, in his seven-over spell while Lalit Rajbanshi also managed to take a wicket.
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