World Cup League 2: With the help of half-centuries from openers Kushal Bhurtel and Rohit Poudel, Nepal clinched a thrilling victory over the United States
Nepal wins the first match of the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 triangular series.
In the first match of the series between Oman, Nepal, and the USA, Nepal defeated the USA by 5 wickets on Monday.
Nepal completed the target of 231 runs given by the USA by losing 5 wickets in 49 overs. Kushal Bhurtel scored the highest 84 runs in Nepal’s victory. Similarly, Rohit, who was in rhythm on the Oman tour, struck a half-century. Rohit added an unbeaten 62 runs. He had earlier scored 86 in the second match of the series against Papua New Guinea. Binod Bhandari contributed 37 runs.
Openers Kushal Bhurtel and Asif Sheikh gave a quick start to Nepal while chasing the medium target set by the United States. Kushal and Asif shared 66 runs for the first wicket. In ODIs, Nepal also holds the record for most partnerships in an opening. Earlier in 2019, Gyanendra Malla and Binod Bhandari shared 61 runs for the first wicket against UAE.
Asif Sheikh was dismissed as Nepal’s first wicket for 23 runs. He hit two fours off 42 balls. Asif was caught out by Nisarg Kenzig from Nisarg Patel. After that, Kushal and captain Gyanendra led Nepal’s innings. But when the score was 93, Gyanendra scored 17 runs. Playing 15 balls, he struck one four and one six. Gyanendra was trapped by Nisarg Patel in LBW.
Kushal, who was leading the innings from one side, shared a 51-run stand with Rohit Poudel for the third wicket. But in the first ball of the 33rd over, Kushal Nisarg Patel’s lbw broke the partnership. Kushal, who scored his first half-century in ODIs, added 84 runs off 93 balls with three fours and three sixes.
After that, Kushal Malla, who reached the crease to bat at number five, was dismissed for just one run. Malla was caught by Monak Patel in the 34th over off captain Saurabh Netrabhalkar. When Kushal Malla was out, Nepal’s score was 145-4.
After that, Rohit teamed up with wicketkeeper Vino Bhandari to lead Nepal’s innings. The pair shared 83 runs for the fifth wicket. When Nepal needed 3 runs to win, Binod Bhandari scored 37 runs and was dismissed in the second ball of the 49th over. Bhandari hit 2 fours and 1 six off 48 balls.
Rohit scored 2 runs in the last ball of the 49th over to give Nepal victory. He scored an unbeaten 62 runs off 87 balls with the help of 2 fours and 3 sixes. Karan KC remained unbeaten on 1 run.
