Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Nepal defeated Canada by 24 runs in their opening match of the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 tri-series featuring Oman and Canada in Muscat on Sunday, thanks to a fighting century by former captain Rohit Paudel.
Batting first, Nepal were bowled out for 235 on the final ball of their innings. In reply, Canada were bundled out for 211 in 48.4 overs.
Nepal made a slow start with the bat. Opener Aasif Sheikh fell for four, while No. 3 batter Ishan Pandey was dismissed for a duck. Opener Arjun Kumal steadied the innings with 23 off 54 balls before Paudel scored 101 off 127 balls to get his third ODI century. Basir Ahamad contributed 30 off 57 balls. Although the ever-dependable Dipendra Singh Airee was dismissed for six off 10 balls, Gulsan Jha scored 48 off 34 balls to take Nepal’s total past 200 runs. The other Nepali batters failed to reach double digits.
Akhil Kumar claimed four wickets for Canada, while Sukhjinder Singh picked up three and Zahid Shirzad chipped in with two.
Although Canada lost opener Yuvraaj Sharma for one run, Aaron Johnson and Samit Gohel added 63 runs for the second wicket. Johnson scored 44 off 49 balls, while Gohel contributed 35 off 59 balls. Nepal kept Canada under pressure by taking wickets at regular intervals. Harsh Thaker made 15 off 38 balls, Shreyas Movva and captain Hamza Tariq scored 26 each, while Akhil Kumar remained unbeaten on 30 off 40 balls. The other Canadian batters failed to reach double digits.
Nandan Yadav, Karan KC, Lalit Rajbanshi and Sandeep Lamichhane picked up two wickets each for Nepal.
With the win, Nepal moved to sixth in the League 2 standings with 26 points from 33 matches. Canada, who lost their opening match against Oman, are seventh with 35 points from 34 matches.
Nepal will play their next match of the tri-series against hosts Oman on Tuesday.
