KATHMANDU, JUNE 12

Nepal and the United States of America played a dramatic draw in the One Day International tri-series match under ICC Cricket World Cup League-II at the Moosa Cricket Stadium in Houston on Saturday.

Batting first, Nepal were bowled out for 274 runs with four balls remaining, while the home team reached 274-6 in 50 overs.

The two sides earned one point each after the tie. Nepal will now play against Oman on June 14 before taking on the USA the next day. Chasing a modest target, the USA were on course of en easy victory as they needed six runs from the last over with six wickets on hand. But debutante Mohammad Adil Alam had other ideas. He conceded just five runs and claimed two wickets including a run out to earn a dramatic tie for his side.

Sompal Kami made the breakthrough in the sixth over when he took a return catch to dismiss opener Sushant Modani (17) with 26 runs on the board. Another opener Steven Taylor and skipper Monank Patel flayed Nepali attack and they added 200 runs for the second wicket to take the team within 49 runs on victory.

Skipper Sandeep Lamichhane and Alam removed both the set batsmen in the space of 11 runs before debutante Alam bowled Gajanand Singh (four) to reduce the home team to 252-4. Taylor struck 114 off 123 balls with the help of 11 fours and three sixes, while Patel scored 115-ball 84 that included four boundaries and two sixes.

Aaron James and Rahul Jariwala then added 22 runs to level the scores before Alam produced the moment of brilliance removing both of them in the last two balls. Alam had Jones (26) caught by Rohit Paudel, while Karan KC and Dipendra Singh Airee combined to run out Jariwala (10) in the last ball of the match as he and Nisarg Patel tried to take a single.

Alam, who took 3-45 from nine overs, was named the player-of-the-match in his first ODI appearance, while Sompal Kami, who got just five overs, and Lamichhane grabbed one wicket each.

Earlier, Nepal posted a challenging total riding on half centuries from Aasif Sheikh, Dev Khanal and Rohit Paudel. Both openers Kushal Bhurtel and Sheikh returned for the match after missing the first one against Oman due to injury and they made a positive start after Lamichhane won the toss and elected to bat first.

The openers put up 56 runs inside 12 overs before Bhurtel was dismissed for 19 runs.

Sheikh and Khanal then added 62 runs for the second wicket, while Khanal combined with Paudel to share a 60-run partnership for the next wicket.

Paudel and Alam then added 65 runs for the fourth wicket before Nepali innings dramatically collapsed losing last seven wickets for just 31 runs in little less than seven overs.

Vice-captain Paudel top scored with 62 off 72 balls that included three boundaries and a six, while Sheikh struck six fours in his 70-ball 61. Khanal scored 54 off 69 balls hitting three fours, while Alam struck three fours and two sixes in his quick fire 36 off 24 balls. Skipper Lamichhane contributed run-a-ball 10, while Dipendra Singh Airee (one), Aarif Sheikh (eight), Karan KC (naught) and Sompal Kami (one) were dismissed cheaply. Sushan Bhari remained unbeaten on one.

Rusty Theron was the pick of the US bowlers taking 4-56, while Ali Khan and Saurabh Netravalkar grabbed two wickets each. Nisarg Patel and Yasir Mohammad claimed one each for the home team.

The USA remained at fourth position with 21 points from 22 matches, while Nepal are sixth on 13 from 14 games. Oman are at the top with 42 points from 34 matches, followed by Scotland (28) and the United Arab Emirates (21). Namibia (14) are fifth, whereas Papua New Guinea are at the bottom with two points. Top three teams will earn berths in the World Cup Qualifiers, while other four teams will go into playoffs.

A version of this article appears in the print on June 13, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.