Kathmandu, Oct. 4: In mid-September, Nepal and Oman reached the North American continent for two tri-series – CWC League 2 and a friendly T2o tri-series – hosted by Canada. After losing the first match of League 2 against Canada on September 16, Nepal ended the cricketing campaign by winning the last game of the T2o tri-series against Oman on October 2.

Nepal defeated Oman by 56 runs at Maple Leaf Cricket Ground in King City, Canada, and registered the second win in eight matches played across 16 days.

In the League 2 tri-series played in a double round-robin format, Nepal lost twice to Canada. Oman defeated Nepal by one wicket (and one ball remaining) in the duo’s first encounter on September 18 while the match was called off and points were shared during the duo’s second faceoff on September 24.

Similarly, Canada defeated Nepal in both matches of the T2o tri-series played on September 28 and October 1. Nevertheless, Nepal ended the losing streak of over 140 days on September 29 by defeating Oman by 37 runs in the duo’s first confrontation in the T20 tri-series. And the squad defeated Oman for the second time on October 2 after bundling out Oman for 101 runs while chasing 158.

Skipper delivers

Nepal’s captain Rohit Kumar Paudel has the best batting stats in T20Is in 2024. Before the T20 tri-series in Canada, Paudel had eight partnerships of over 40 runs. On the other hand, there were 12 partnerships including other players where ≥40 runs have been scored.

And the skipper delivered in the final match as well. While the new batting order implemented in the T2o tri-series by coach Monty Desai still seems to find a tone, the top order was able to add decent runs on Wednesday.

Anil Kumar Sah was aggressive from the start as he had smashed 11 runs in four deliveries; however, he got run out while facing the final ball of the first over. Aasif Sheikh added 16 off 14 before departing in the end of the 5th over leaving Nepal at 44/2.

In at three and four, youngster Dev Khanal and Kushal Malla added 18 and 19 runs respectively. When Malla returned to the pavilion as the fourth wicket at 14.2 overs, Nepal had just reached the 100-run mark with the help of the skipper who entered the crease after Khanal departed in the first ball of the 8th over.

Since the 8th over, Paudel ensured that the team scored runs until the end of the 20th over. Paudel scored a half-century and stayed not out at 56 off 44 (2 fours, 4 sixes) with Sompal Kami (3 off 4).

In at six, seven and eight, Gulshan Kumar Jha, Dipendra Singh Airee and Kushal Bhurtel contributed 2 off 4, 1 off 2 and 11 off 4 respectively to partner with the captain and take Nepal to a defending total.

Fayyaz Butt (3) and Kaleemullah, Shakeel Ahmed and Aqib Ilyas were the wicket-takers for Oman.

With the ball

Pacer Rijan Dhakal, who debuted for Nepal in senior T20Is on September 28 against Canada, gave the first wicket for the team in 1.4 overs as Kashyap Prajapati was caught out by Bhurtel. Dhakal came in the fourth over to give Nepal the second relief as Shoaib Khan was caught behind the stumps.

The newly promoted world’s No. 2 T20I all-rounder Dipendra Singh Airee showcased his fielding abilities with the catch of opener and skipper Aqib Ilyas (22 off 26) at the end of the 9th over, giving Sandeep Lamichhane his first wicket of the match, and running out Khalid Kail with a mesmerising throw in the 11th.

Amidst the wickets of other players, in-at-four Zeeshan Maqsood, former skipper of Oman, was holding his ground. With three sixes in 29 deliveries, Maqsood was at 35 runs taking Oman to 72/4 by the end of the 12th over.

It was then that the captain brought relief with the ball. In his very first ball of the 13th over, Paudel caught Maqsood himself as the latter tried playing a straight shot. He then took another two balls later as Rafiullah was caught behind the wicket-keeper by Sompal Kami with a running and diving effort.

Pratik Athavale was the only other to score in double figures while others departed for a single figure with Bhurtel bagging three wickets in \his 1.5 over-spell.

Nepal has the chance to win the T2o tri-series if Oman succeeds in defeating Canada in the final match of the series Thursday night.

– Nayak Paudel/TRN