KATHMANDU, MARCH 16
Nepal registered a hard-fought two-wicket wicket over Papua New Guinea in the opening One Day International match of the tri-series under ICC Cricket World Cup League-II at the Sharjah Stadium in the United Arab Emirates today.
Rohit Kumar Paudel and Aarif Sheikh played sensible knocks as Nepal chased down 205-run target losing eight wickets with four balls remaining.
Earlier, batting first, PNG posted 204-8 in their allotted 50 overs. Nepal will take on the UAE in Dubai tomorrow.
Nepal will face the UAE on March 21 before playing against PNG the following day in return leg matches.
Nepali top order faltered in their run chase as they were reduced to 42-4 in 15 overs.
Opener Kushal Bhurtel (one) was dismissed in the first ball of the second over, while former skipper Gyanendra Malla (four) and Dipendra Singh Airee (eight) also fell cheaply before Aasif Sheikh (16) lost his wicket. Rohit Paudel and Aarif Sheikh added 100 runs for the fifth wicket to steady the innings. They became the first Nepali pair to share century partnership in ODIs. Paudel top scored with 60 off 83 balls with the help of four boundaries as he recorded his fourth half century in ODIs.
Sheikh missed the half century by a run as he was dismissed for 49 off 83 balls.
Binod Bhandari (11) and Sompal Kami (eight) also fell cheaply before Karan KC and Sandeep Lamichhane took the team home with four balls remaining.
KC remained unbeaten on 25-ball 29 that included a four and two sixes.
Nepal needed 15 runs from eight balls when Lamichhane joined KC at the middle.
KC hit a four and kept strike with him for the final over with a leg bye single. Nepal earned four leg bye runs in the first ball of the last over before KC hit Riley Hekure for a six to finish it in style. Lamichhane did not get a chance to face the ball. Hekure, Alei Nao and Norman Vanua took two wickets each for PNG.
Earlier Nepali bowlers faced a hard time to take wickets and PNG openers Tony Ura and Lega Siaka added 51 runs.
Aarif Sheikh separated the pair when he had Ura (27) caught by wicketkeeper Binod Bhandari before Lamichhane bowled Siaka (25) to reduce PNG to 55-2. Skipper Assad Vala and Charles Amini added 35 runs for the third wicket before Nepal claimed two wickets in the space of one run.
Amini and Chad Soper then shared a 74-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Amini top scored foe PNG with 82-ball 59 hitting seven boundaries, while Soper scored 35 off 74 balls. Norman Vanua struck two fours and a six in his 12- ball 23. Sompal Kami was the pick of the Nepali bowlers taking 3-48 from 10 overs, while Aarif Sheikh, Sandeep Lamichhane and Gyanendra Malla bagged one wicket each. Sagar Dhakal made List-A and ODI debut from the match and he returned empty handed in his four-over spell and did not get a chance to bat.
With their fifth win in nine matches, Nepal accumulated 10 points and remained at sixth position, while PNG faced their 14th consecutive defeat and are yet to open their accounts. Oman are at the top with 36 points from 27 matches, while UAE are second on 18 from 15 games.
Scotland are third with 16 from seven matches, ahead of the United States of America (14) and Namibia (12).
A version of this article appears in the print on March 17, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
