Kathmandu, February 27

Nepal defeated Papua New Guinea by four wickets in the opening match of the One Day International Tri-series at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai today.

Batting first, PNG posted 203-9 in their allotted 50 overs before Nepal raced to 207-6 with 28 balls to spare. Nepal - who recorded their maiden clean sweep in the previous tri-series against Scotland and Namibia on home soil last week - registered their fifth consecutive victory to strengthen their chances of protecting the ODI status.

Nepal openers Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh made flying start adding 76 runs inside 15 overs. Sheikh was the first to go after scoring 44 off 39 balls with the help of five fours before Gyanendra Malla (four) fell cheaply. Bhurtel was dismissed for 56 off 69 balls that included five boundaries, while skipper Rohit Paudel (20) also lost his wicket as Nepal looked in trouble at 135-4 with half way to go.

Aarif Sheikh and Dipendra Singh Airee added 54 runs for the fifth wicket to take the team close to victory but Nepal lost both the batsmen in the space of two runs. Sheikh scored 33 off 62 balls, while Airee contributed 22 off 43 balls. Kushal Malla (12) and Sompal Kami (five) took the team home adding 17 runs for the unbroken seventh wicket.

Assad Vala was the pick of the PNG bowlers taking 3-37, while Norman Vanua and Sese Bau grabbed one wicket each.

Earlier, PNG skipper Assad Vala and Chad Soper contributed 36 runs each. Sese Bau (31), Kiplin Doriga (29), Norman Vanua (25), and Hiri Hiri (10) scored in double figures.

Gulsan Jha was the pick of the Nepali bowlers taking 3-28 from nine overs, while Kushal Malla grabbed 2-43. Sompal Kami, Karan KC and debutante Pratis GC claimed one wicket each.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 28, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.