Nepal excels in series to retain ODI status

The men’s national cricket team of Nepal delivered the much needed result in the recently concluded ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 ODI tri-series  held in Oman.

They ended up with three  wins and one loss. Their lone defeat came at the hands of Canada in the return match .They  prevailed  over hosts Oman in both games and got the better of  Canada in the opener.

Both players and fans heaved a sigh of relief, following the team’s  successful outing in the crucial tri-series because the ODI status,which was  at  stake, got secured.

Going into the tri-series Nepal was under tremendous pressure because they had to put together a consistent and winning performance in order to retain the ODI status.

In light of the challenging situation they had to rise to the occasion and peak their performance throughout the  series which they did to bounce back in a major way to prove themselves.

Kudos to players for their overall excellent and highly competitive performances from start to finish.The concerted effort and individual  brilliance paid rich dividends at the end of the day.

Skipper Sandeep Lamichhane deserves  a round of applause for  effectively executing his responsibilities, strategically and tactically.

Speaking of individual performance, experienced players' contribution was kev to the team’s success.Fortunately, they   did not let down the team.

Former skipper Rohit Paudel’s impressive batting form largely helped the team come out on top of the series.

He started off with an explosive  101 runs , his third ODI century in the opener against Canada.

Batting first Nepal got off to a shaky start losing two early wickets. Man of the match Paudel shared three  important  partnerships with Arjun Kumal(23 runs) , Basir Ahamad(30 runs) and Gulshan Jha (48 runs) ,which  helped them amass 235 runs. 

The bowlers lived up to expectations by bowling out the opposition for 211 in 47.4 overs to complete the win by 24 runs.

Sandeep, Karan , Lait and Nandan claimed two wickets each.

Nepal completed an impressive second successive win by getting the better of Oman in their first meeting.They registered a convincing 113 run win.

Once again the top order  batters displayed good form. The batting revolved around Arjun (47 runs),Ishan (37 runs),Rohit(61 runs),Basir (37 runs) and Karan (40 runs).

Man of the match pacer  Karan hogged the limelight for his aggressive batting.He batted  explosively, scoring 40 runs with the help of 1 four and 4 sixes. His  knock  helped the team put up a competitive total of 263 runs.

The bowlers put in another round of superb and effective bowling .They took control of the proceedings from the beginning and had the batters on the back foot by making  early breakthroughs and taking wickets  at regular intervals.They had the batters struggling for runs by reducing them to 41 for 6.

Young Nandan in a display of fast bowling took 3 wickets for just 12 runs. The experienced duo Sandeep and Karan  claimed 3 and 2  wickets  respectively.

In the decisive second match against Oman, Rohit  scored  80 runs and shared a vital  149   run partnership with  man of the match Airee who scored 69 runs. 

Apart from the two, opener Dev Khanal batted impressively to score a superb 57 runs,while Ishan contributed 29 runs.

Their contribution pushed  the score  to a competitive total of 280 runs.Though Oman came very close to winning ,the bowlers ensured themselves victory despite struggling in the early part of the innings. They were unable to contain the openers who shared a century partnership  for the first wicket.

They found their rhythm back midway through the innings.They were able to put batters under pressure as they made breakthroughs when needed and prevented them from walking away with the match.

Nepal’s lone defeat in the series was against Canada in the second match. They went down by 24 runs. Opener Arjun's valiant 87 runs went in vain as other batters fell short of a good performance .

To add ,despite Lalit and Sandeep’s  4  and 3 wickets  haul respectively, Canadian batters  managed to amass a total of 256 runs.

Team Nepal is yet to qualify for the final qualifying round,however,they have one last chance to make it through.

They will compete in the 8 team World Cup Qualifier playoffs .The top four  finishers advance to the championship round.

With four qualifying spots at stake and the average opponents they face,Nepal’s chances of finishing in the top four is high. 

When all is said and done,it  comes down to  the team’s consistent  and winning performance. They have the momentum and must continue  to ride going into  the playoff  games in order to qualify for the final round.This is the last big  bounce back opportunity for them  to prove themselves to the cricketing world.  

In preparation for the playoffs both  batters and bowlers  must  seriously start working on their shortcomings and improve every  aspect of their game, technically and mentally.They have to remain fully focused, committed, confident and determined to win a qualifying spot.