The Nepal national cricket team is on a winning streak. On Tuesday, they defeated Oman by a whopping 113 runs in their ICC CWC League-2 tri-series fixture. This amounted to their second win in two matches in the series, having defeated Canada by 24 runs on Sunday. 

Nepal, who are already out of the contention for the top four spots to progress to the World Cup Qualifier, reached Oman with the aim of winning all their four fixtures to make sure they finish as one of the top six teams and save their ODI status. 

On Tuesday, the Rhinos performed brilliantly with both the bat and the ball. They posted 263/8 after winning the toss and electing to bat. Arjun Kumal and Ishan Pandey, who joined after the departure of Aasif Sheikh (4 off 15), built a 64-run partnership for the second wicket. Pandey departed in the 21st over after scoring 37 off 55 and was followed by Kumal (40 off 59) in the 22nd. Nepal were then 83/3.

Rohit Kumar Paudel and Basir Ahamad were then the fresh batters on the crease. The duo took Nepal to 169/4 before Ahamad departed as the fourth wicket in 39.1 overs. Paudel, who went on to score a calculated 61 off 67, and Ahamad built a 86-run partnership.

After that came the biggest cameo of the match, with in-at-eight Karan KC smashing a blitzkrieg 40 off 16 before getting run out in the last ball of the innings. KC also took a wicket and pulled off two maiden overs in his economical six-over spell. Adjudged the player of the match, KC said he enjoyed batting more on the day. “It is my role to come down the order and score some quick runs for the team,” he said. “Sometimes you succeed and sometimes you don’t. I am happy it worked today.”

Nepal’s skipper Sandeep Lamichhane had stressed that the pitch was good enough to score 280-290 after winning the toss. “But it did not work out so,” Lamichhane said after the match. “In the end, the team performed well as a unit and we won.”

In turn, Oman could only manage 150 runs before getting bundled out in 40 overs, thanks to Nepal’s disciplined bowling.

KC, fresh from a daring contribution with the bat, took the first wicket when he clean bowled Hasnain Ul Wahab for a duck in 1.4 overs. Nandan Yadav then took two more—of Mujibur Ali (2 off 6) and Hammad Mirza (4 off 12)—and Oman were 27/3 in 7.4 overs.

Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi also opened his wicket account after getting opener Jatinder Singh (18 off 35) caught out in 10.3 overs. Skipper Sandeep Lamichhane then came to the rescue after making Karan Sonavalae (4 off 11) and Zikira Islam (0 off 1) return to the pavilion in two consecutive deliveries in the 12th over.

When Islam departed for a golden duck in 11.5 overs, Oman were 41/6.

With 228 deliveries left, Nepal were most likely to bundle out Oman soon. However, it was not so easy.

Nepal had to wait for the next 20 overs to take another wicket as skipper Vinayak Shukla kept on building the seventh-wicket partnership with Jay Odedra.

It was thanks to Dipendra Singh Airee that the 83-run partnership between Shukla and Odedra came to an end. Odedra (25 off 57) got struck leg before in 31.4 overs. 

Nonetheless, Shukla went on scoring while the wickets kept falling from the other end. Oman were in the chase until Shukla was on the crease.

However, when Shukla departed after getting caught behind—while playing a blunder shot as he tried to guide the ball late towards the third man—Oman were out of the chase. Shukla scored 77 off 83 and took Oman to 148 in 38.1 overs. 

Sandeep Lamichhane and Nandan Yadav took three wickets each. Similarly, Airee picked two, while Karan KC and Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi claimed one each in Nepal’s 113-run win. 

Nepali bowlers were also disciplined with their spell. 

Yadav had an economy of two runs in his six-over spell. KC was even better with an economy of 1.33 in six overs. Lamichhane gave only 28 runs in his nine overs at an economy of 3.11.

Nepal now face Canada on Saturday. A win would make sure Nepal finish as one of the top six teams, a position that could see Nepal retain their ODI status for the next League-2 cycle.

Photos: CAN

Nepali players celebrate a wicket against Oman during their League-2 fixture in Al Amerat, Oman, on Tuesday. 

Karan KC was adjudged the player of the match.