Nepal suffer six-wicket defeat to Oman in ICC WCLD II

KATHMANDU: Nepal has suffered six-wicket defeat at the hands of Oman in the ongoing ICC World Cricket League Division-II on Friday.

Nepal was invited for batting after losing the toss and made just 138 runs losing all the wickets in 46 overs in the match played in Windhoek. In reply, Oman reached to 139/4 in 35.1 overs.

Nepal who had registered hard fought one-wicket win over Namibia in their first match on Thursday continued their poor batting form in the second match as well. Hence, Sharad Vesawkar’s 67-ball 22 was highest score for Nepal.

Earlier, Nepal failed to make a positive start to the innings as opening duo Gyanendra Malla and Dilip Nath were dismissed for seven and 19 runs respectively. Aarif Sheikh who came to bat at third number was sent to pavilion for just six runs where as Captain Paras Khadka contributed 17 runs facing 78 deliveries. Likewise, Rohit Kumar Paudel and unbeaten Sompal Kami contributed 14 and 17 runs respectively.

Kaleemullah was the pick of the Omani bowlers as he took 4-28 from 10 overs. Likewise, Bilal Khan added two more wickets for Oman while Khawar Ali and JA Odedra bagged one wicket each.

Meanwhile, Aqib Ilyas was top-scorer for winning side as he smashed 73-ball 46 while unbeaten Vaibhav Wategaonkar made 37 runs off 98 balls. Opener Jatinder Singh contributed 24 runs facing 44 deliveries.

Sandeep Lamichhane who was instrumental in Nepal’s win over Namibia earlier, failed to show similar display as he bagged just two wickets giving away 37 runs. Likewise, Sompal Kami and Basant Regmi added one wicket each.

Nepal will now face United Arab Emirates in their third match on Sunday.