Nepali national cricket team has won the ODI series title against Canada with one match remaining.
Nepal registered a 4-wicket victory in the second match held at the TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on Saturday. The target of 286 runs presented by Canada was completed by Nepal losing 6 wickets in the 46th over.
Nepal chased the target of 286 runs for the second time in ODI. Earlier in 2023, the same goal was followed against Namibia.
With their second consecutive win against Canada, Nepal has won the three-match series 2-0. In the first match on Thursday, Nepal won by 7 runs. Now the last match will be on Monday.
After captain Rohit Paudel, U19 captain Dev Khanal and opener Anil Shah scored half-centuries, Nepal moved towards an easy victory. But after losing consecutive wickets towards the end in the middle order, Nepal came under some pressure.
Rohit contributed 87 runs in 101 balls. He hit 8 fours and 4 sixes and was dismissed as the fifth wicket. He was cut behind after being edged by opposition captain Saad Bin Zafar.
After an aggressive start by opener Anil Shah, captain Rohit and Dev managed the innings by sharing a record 150 runs for the third wicket. Earlier, Kushal Bhurtel and Rohit shared a partnership of 133 runs against Namibia in 2023.
The partnership was broken when Dev returned a catch to Harsh Thacker in the 34th over. Dev contributed 76 runs off 81 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes. He scored a fifty in 56 balls.
Bhim Sarki, who came to the crease after Dev got out, got out after scoring 23 runs off 21 balls. He hit 4 fours and was caught by the wicketkeeper off Dilpreet Bajwa’s ball. Pawan Sarraf also scored 14 runs in 8 balls with 2 fours and 1 six while playing aggressive shots and was cut behind by Thackeray. Sompal Kami and Kushal Malla led Nepal to victory. Both were not out at 9-9 runs.
Before that, opener Anil Shah had hit the fastest fifty for Nepal in ODI cricket. Anil completed his half century in 19 balls. He broke Asif Shaikh’s record of 21-ball half-century against PNG last year.
Anil got out in the next ball after completing his half-century. He was caught by Ishwarjot Sohi’s LBW. Anil scored 50 runs in 20 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes.
Asif Sheikh was dismissed in the last ball of the fifth over. He scored 10 runs in 16 balls and was caught out in the same ball. After sharing 55 runs for the first wicket, Nepal lost 2 consecutive wickets. After that, Anil and Rohit prepared the basis of victory by handling the innings.
For Canada, Ishwarjot Sohi took 2 wickets and Harsh Thacker, Saad Bin Zafar and Dilpreet Bajwa took 1 wicket each.
Before that, Canada, who won the toss and chose to bat, lost 9 wickets in the scheduled 50 overs and scored 285 runs. Openers Aaron Johnson and Navneet Dhaliwal made a good start for Canada and contributed the most. When Johnson scored 65 runs, Navneet fell short of his maiden ODI half-century by 2 runs.
Although Canada started well at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, Nepal returned to the game by taking wickets continuously in the middle order. While opener Aaron Johnson made a half-century, another opener Navneet Dhaliwal was dismissed for 46 runs. These two added 94 runs for the first wicket. In the 19th over, Akash Chand cut behind Dhaliwal and gave Nepal its first success.
Then Johnson was run out in the 23rd over. While playing for 65 runs off 62 balls with 10 fours and 2 sixes, he was run out by Bhim Saraki’s throw while trying to steal a single. After that, Pargat Singh and Nicholas Kirtan shared 53 runs for the third wicket. Captain Rohit dismissed them both and brought Nepal back into the game. Pargat scored 38 runs in 38 balls and was caught by Sompal. Similarly, Kirtan was stumped for 20 runs. In the 35th over, Surya made Harsh Thacker cut behind for 3 runs. This is Surya’s first wicket in ODI career. He made his debut in the first match on Thursday. In the 39th over, Kushal Malla bowled Dilpreet Bajwa to take Canada to 212-6. Dilpreet added 19 runs with 2 fours and 1 six. In the 41st over, captain Saad bin Zafar was caught out by Kushal.
Pawan Sarraf bowled Shahid Ahmadzai for 13 runs in the 45th over. Shreyas Mova and Udaya Bhagwan shared 46 runs for the ninth wicket. Mova scored 40 runs before being caught off the last ball. Bhagwan remained not out for 20 runs.
Rohit Paudel and Kushal Malla took 2 wickets each for Nepal. Sompal Kami, Surya Tamang, Akash Chand and Pawan Sarraf took 1 wicket each.
Nepal made 3 changes in the team today from the last match. Anil Shah and Dev Khanal were in the team when Akash Chand made his debut. Dilpreet Bajwa replaced Dillon Helliger as Canada made one change.
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