Nepal registers 2nd win as Uganda qualifies

Kathmandu, May 3 – Nepal secured its second win in the ICC World Cricket League Division III tournament after defeating Oman by 28 runs on Thursday.
Nepal's vice-captain Gyanendra Malla receiving Man of the Match award for his 34 runs knock in the match played against Oman on Thursday. Nepal beat Oman by 28 runs in the match. Nepalnews.com (Courtesy: Raman Shiwakoti)
Nepal's vice-captain Gyanendra Malla receiving Man of the Match award for his 34 runs…

Batting first, Nepal managed a paltry total of 160 runs with the loss of nine wickets in 50 overs. After facing the initial jolt of losing its opener with just one run on the board, vice captain Gyanendra Malla gave some semblance to the Nepali innings by hitting 34 runs, the highest of the Nepali innings while Binod Bhandari scored 32 runs, captain Paras Khadka hit 28 runs and Sharad Bheswakar chipped in with 27 runs to help Nepal reach a defendable total.

In response, the Gulf nation could only manage to score 132 runs in 46.4 overs with the loss of all wickets. Nepali bowlers Sanjam Regmi and Basanta Regmi took two wickets each to spell disaster for Oman while Shakti Gauchan, Prithu Baskota and Paras Khadka took one wickets each.

Nepal’s skipper Khadka was pleased with his team’s performance on a tough wicket.

“We were 20 – 25 runs short, looking at the wicket, but the wicket was not that easy. With our bowling attack though, we thought 160 was defendable.”

Khadka remains positive for Nepal’s final group match, which will be against Italy. “We still have one more game to go, and if results fall in our favour, we still have a slight chance of making it to the next round. So fingers crossed that everything goes well, and we should be doing ok.”

With the win, Nepal’s chances of advancing to the division II has grown. Although Nepal has also avoided being relegated to Division IV because of the win, its chances of finishing among the top two in the tournaments and advancing to the world cup qualifiers still looks very dim.

Nepal can only manage to finish among the top two in the tournaments provided it beats Italy by a huge margin when they face each other on Saturday and USA is also defeated by Bermuda.

This is Nepal's second win in the ICC World Cricket League Division III tournament. The side beat host Bermuda by 8 wickets on Thursday after losing to the USA and Uganda previously.