Nepal has set a target of 257 runs for Oman in the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 match held in Kathmandu. Asif Sheikh was the top scorer with 94 runs, while Arjun Kumal contributed 48 runs and Arif Sheikh added 43 runs. Nepal scored 256 runs in 49.5 overs, with Nadim Khan taking 3 wickets for Oman.
On 22nd Baisakh, Kathmandu – In the final game of the ongoing series in Kathmandu under the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2, Nepal posted a target of 257 runs for Oman. Winning the toss at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, Nepal opted to bat first and were all out for 256 runs in 49.5 overs. Brothers Asif and Arif Sheikh were the standout performers with the bat. Opener Asif Sheikh top-scored with 94 runs, while Arjun Kumal added 48, Arif Sheikh 43, and vice-captain Dipendra Singh Airee contributed 33 runs.
Asif played 97 balls, striking 7 fours and 5 sixes. He was dismissed on the third ball of the 35th over while attempting a big shot, caught near the boundary line. This innings marked Asif’s 14th half-century in ODIs; across 66 matches, he has scored one century and fourteen fifties. After the other opener, Binod Bhandari, was dismissed without scoring in the second over, Asif and Arjun Kumal put together a 123-run partnership for the second wicket.
Arjun scored 48 runs off 87 balls, featuring 4 fours, just missing out on a half-century by two runs. Vice-captain Dipendra Singh Airee scored 33 runs from 42 balls, including 1 four. Gulshan scored 17 runs off 23 balls with 2 fours. Captain Rohit Paudel managed 9 runs from 16 balls. At 237/9 in the 49th over, Asif accelerated the scoring with three consecutive sixes in the final over. However, Nepal was all out on the fifth ball of that over when Arif was dismissed. For Oman, Nadim Khan took the most wickets with 3, while Sakil Ahmad claimed 2 wickets.
