It was familiar scenes at Tribhuvan University Ground in Kirtipur, which hosted Nepal’s first ever ODI match in the CWC League 2 Championship, with the host’s suffering a 18-runs defeat against Oman in the first game in the 5th round of Tri-series in the Championship, also involving USA.
Nepal’s inexperience in 50-overs cricket was at show with neither the bowling or the batting unit able to close out on the win having had Oman in their grasps for the majorit of their batting session and again during the chase of the target set by them. Oman put up 197 runs on board, despite having being in the tight situations at 39/3, 57/5, 117/6 and 168/9. Oman’s total was built arounf Mohammad Nadeem’s well made 69 runs, and support from Sandeep Goud (33 runs) and Naseem Khushi (28 runs). Karan KC took 4/47 for the host’s, while Sushan Bhari took 3/14 on debut for the home side.
Oman Captain Zeeshan Maqsood led the way with three wickets with the ball, as Nepal were bowled out for 179 in the 47th over during the chase. Sharad Vesawkar anchored the chase for the home team, also scoring his maiden ODI half-century with 55 runs to his name, but they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Bilal Khan and Kaleemullah picked up two wickets each, while the other spinners in the team picked up a wicket each to contribute towards the victory. The win moves Oman to within two points of United States at the top of the points table in CWC League 2, having played two games less than them (games not played as part of mourning ceremony for death of Oman’s Sultan during the event and ICC not having decided yet to award points for the games or play them at a later date).
Oman and USA meet in the second match of the tri-series, at the same ground on Thursday. The tournament, which will continue till 12 February, will see Nepal, Oman and the USA play four ODI matches each.
ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 Points Table
| TEAM | Matches | Wins | Loss | Points | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States of America | 8 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 0.412 |
| Oman | 7 | 5 | 2 | 10 | -0.07 |
| Scotland | 8 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 0.139 |
| Namibia | 7 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 0.008 |
| United Arab Emirates | 7 | 3 | 3 | 7 | -0.004 |
| Nepal | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -0.36 |
| Papua New Guinea | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | -0.458 |
Brief Scores
Match#25: Oman 197/9 in 50 overs (Mohammad Nadeem 69 n.o, Sandeep Goud 33, Naseem Khushi 28, Zeeshan Maqsood 20, Karan KC 4/47, Sushan Bhari 3/14, Dipendra Singh Airee 1/22) beat Nepal 179 all out in 46.5 overs (Sharad Vesawkar 55, Dipendra Singh Airee 36, Sandeep Lamichhane 28, Binod Bhandari 26, Zeeshan Maqsood 3/30, Kaleemullah 2/22, Bilal Khan 2/36, Mohammad Nadeem 1/10, Khawar Ali 1/33) by 18 runs
