Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Nepal defeated Oman by 81 runs in their final match of the ICC World Cricket League (WCL) 2 tri-series at the TU International Cricket Stadium in Kathmandu.
Batting first, Nepal scored 256 runs for the loss of nine wickets, helped by opener Aasif Sheikh’s 94 off 97 balls. Chasing 257, Oman folded for 175 runs in 39.5 overs. Gulshan Jha produced his career-best spell of 5/38 in nine overs.
Nepal came under early pressure as opener Binod Bhandari was out for a duck. However, Aasif Sheikh and Arjun Kumal steadied the innings, adding 123 runs for the second wicket. Aasif played a magnificent knock of 94 off 97 balls, which included seven fours and five sixes, while Kumal scored 48. Although captain Rohit Paudel (9) fell cheaply, Dipendra Singh Airee scored 33, Gulshan Jha made 17, and Aarif Sheikh played an aggressive knock of 43 off 24 balls. He hit a four and four towering sixes. Other Nepali batters failed to reach double digits.
Nadeem Khan took three wickets for Oman, while Shakeel Ahmed and Hassnain Shah picked up two each, and Jatinder Singh and Aryan Bisht contributed a wicket apiece.
Chasing 257 to secure their second win in the tri-series, Oman failed to build meaningful partnerships. Captain Jatinder Singh, who scored a century in the first match against Nepal, made 12, while Hasnain ul Wahab scored 2 and Hammad Mirza contributed little. Vinayak Shukla top-scored for Oman with a 41-ball 36. Hassnain Shah, Nadeem Khan and Wasim Ali scored 14, 12 and 10, respectively.
Gulshan Jha picked up five wickets, conceding just 38 runs, to derail Oman’s chase. Karan KC, Nandan Yadav, Sandeep Lamichhane and Dipendra Singh Airee took a wicket each.
Nepal, which won three out of four matches in the tri-series, are seventh on the table with 18 points from 24 matches. UAE, who won both matches against Oman, have 14 points from 24 matches and are eighth. Oman, which won only one out of three matches in the tri-series, are third on the eight-team WCL 2 table with 31 points from 28 matches.
