Nepal’s four-wicket defeat at the hands of the USA at the ICC Academy in Dubai on Saturday marked their fourth straight loss against the Americans in the ICC CWC League 2 (2024-26) cycle.

Eight teams in League 2 are playing each other two to three times across nine tri-series each. The Rhinos are facing the USA thrice in the cycle.

Nepal and the USA first met in the second edition of League 2 when the Rhinos and the Scots were hosted in Dallas in October-November last year. Nepal had then lost by three wickets and 37 runs in the two fixtures of the double round-robin tri-series on October 27 and November 2, respectively.

Just a day less than a year, the Rhinos suffered two more defeats to the USA, this time in Dubai. Nepal lost their first match at Dubai International Cricket Stadium by 106 runs on October 26, and the second loss, by four wickets, came at the ICC Academy on Saturday.

Further, it was Nepal’s third straight loss in the ongoing tri-series in the UAE, having lost the first fixture against the hosts by five wickets on October 30.

Saturday’s defeat was Nepal’s 12th loss in 19 matches. They have won five, while gaining a point each in two matches—against Oman on September 24 and against Scotland on November 4—last year, which ended without a result due to rain.

Losing the toss and being asked to bat first, Nepal were bundled out for 271 runs with one ball remaining in the 50-over game. Dipendra Singh Airee (75 off 67) was the highest scorer for Nepal, while two from the top-order—Kushal Bhurtel (47 off 65) and Bhim Sharki (43 off 58)—played a decent inning. In at eight, Karan KC played a quick-fire inning with three sixes and two fours in 31 deliveries before getting caught out with one run to his 50.

Harmeet Singh was the best bowler for the USA as he was the one who broke the partnerships by getting Bhurtel, Sharki and Rohit Kumar Paudel (36 off 46) out.

It was again Singh who completed the chase for the USA with two sixes in the 49th over. Singh was not out at 13 off 5 with Sanjay Krishnamurthi (15 off 13) after Saiteja Mukkamalla (75 off 101) and Milind Kumar (70 off 66) took the team closer to the target.

Nepal will now face the UAE in the last match of the tri-series on November 5.

Meanwhile, sitting at the seventh position out of eight teams—with four points more than the UAE at the bottom—Nepal’s chance for entering the ODI World Cup’s Global Qualifier as the Top 4 teams in League 2 is now slim. Further, the loss on Saturday raised the challenge for the Rhinos, who qualified for the 2026 T20 World Cup last month, to retain their ODI status.

The bottom four teams of League 2 will play in the Global Qualifier’s play-off alongside the four teams who progress from the Challenge League. Within the play-off, the bottom two teams from League 2 will also be putting their ODI status on the line.