May 23, Kathmandu. Nepal has defeated Oman by 81 runs in the final match of the series under the ICC Cricket World Cup League Two being held in Kathmandu, thanks to Asif Sheikh's 94 runs and Gulsan's excellent bowling performance.
After Gulsan took 5 wickets, Oman, who were chasing the target of 257 runs given by Nepal at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, were all out for 175 runs in 39.5 overs.
Earlier, Asif Sheikh and Arif Sheikh shone with the bat after Nepal, who won the toss, batted first, and Nepal made 256 runs in 49.5 overs, losing all their wickets.
In this series, Nepal has won 3 out of 4 matches and has added 6 points. Nepal, which has 18 points from 24 matches, remains in seventh place in the League Two with 8 teams.
In this series, Nepal had earlier defeated the UAE by 36 runs and 6 runs, while Nepal was defeated by Oman by 102 runs. With today's win, Nepal has also taken revenge for their previous defeat against Oman.
Now, Nepal will play the next series of League Two, including America and Scotland, from May 29 at their home ground.
Oman collapsed due to Gulsan's bowling
For Oman, who were chasing the moderate target given by Nepal, Nepal's Gulsan Jha proved to be fatal today. After he took 5 wickets, Oman could not even complete 40 overs and were all out for 175 runs.
For Oman, wicket-keeper Vinayak Shukla scored the highest 36 runs, hitting 3 fours and 2 sixes in 41 balls. Similarly, Hammad Mirza scored 34 and Hasanain Wahab scored 29 runs. Captain Jatinder Singh, who scored a century in the last match against Nepal, was out for 12 and Waheed Ali was out for 10 runs.
For Nepal, Gulsan Jha took 5 wickets, spending 38 runs in 9 overs, to dismiss Oman.
Gulsan has taken 5 wickets for the second time in his ODI career, setting his best bowling figure against Oman. Earlier, he had taken 5 wickets for 47 runs in 10 overs, including 2 maidens, against Oman in the League Two match held in Ontario, Canada in September 2024.
Karan KC, Nandan Yadav, Sandeep Lamichhane, and vice-captain Dipendra Singh Airee took one wicket each.
Asif's 94 runs, Arif's cameo batting
For Nepal, who batted first, opener Asif Sheikh scored the highest 94 runs, while Arjun Kumal scored 48, Arif Sheikh scored 43, and vice-captain Dipendra Singh Airee scored 33 runs.
Asif, who missed a century by 6 runs, hit 7 fours and 1 six in 97 balls. Trying to hit a big shot, Asif was caught out on the third ball of the 35th over. This is Asif's 14th half-century in ODIs. Asif has scored 1 century and 14 half-centuries in 66 ODIs.
After the other opener, Vinod Bhandari, was out without scoring in the second over, Asif shared a partnership of 123 runs for the second wicket with Arjun Kumal. Arjun, who got out for the second consecutive match, batted patiently at number three but missed his half-century by just 2 runs. He scored 48 runs, hitting 4 fours in 87 balls.
Similarly, vice-captain Dipendra Singh Airee scored 33 runs, hitting 1 four in 42 balls. Gulsan hit 2 fours in 23 balls, scoring 17 runs. Captain Rohit Paudel scored just 9 runs in 16 balls. Nandan Yadav was out for 2 runs, and Sandeep Lamichhane was out for 1 run, while Karan KC could not open his account.
For Nepal, who were at 237/9 in 49 overs, Arif Sheikh boosted the score by hitting three consecutive sixes in the last over. However, Nepal was all out one ball early after Arif was out on the fifth ball of the last over. Arif hit 1 four and 4 sixes in 24 balls.
For Oman, Nadim Khan took the highest 3 wickets, while Sakil Ahmed took 2 wickets. Jitender Ramandand, Hasanain Shah, and Aryan Vishwakarma took 1 wicket each.
