United States defeated Nepal by three wickets in match 38 of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League Two 2023-27 at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Monday, 28 October. (More Cricket News)
It was thrilling as the hosts invited Nepal to bat first on a pitch where the ball was coming nicely on the bat. The Rohit Paudel-led Nepal made 286 in their 50 overs thanks to the captain's 75-ball 96.
Opener batters Anil Sah and Aasif Sheikh added 98 runs for the first wicket. Both made half-centuries but could not survive longer after reaching the milestone. Aarif Sheikh also made crucial 37 runs.
Paudel played with the tailenders till the end and missed his well-deserved century by just four runs when Saurabh Netravalkar bowled him on the last delivery of the Nepal innings.
Netravalkar took a couple of wickets and Nosthush Kenjige claimed a four-fer. The Monank Patel-led USA used only five bowlers and the other three shared one wicket each.
In response, USA openers tried to give a good start but Sompal Kami dismissed Andries Gous in the second over. Then Monank Patel joined Shayan Jahangir and the duo added 161 runs for the second wicket.
Lalit Rajbanshi dismissed Patel and brought Nepal back into the game. But Jahangir went on to score a ton and Kushal Bhurtel dismissed his in 32nd over. He made 104 runs off just 97 balls which included 12 fours and four sixes.
Bhurtel then dismissed three more USA batters but Harmeet Singh (57 off 44) managed to stitch a 71-run partnership for the seventh wicket with Shadley van Schalkwyk (29 not out off 37 balls) to take the hosts closer to the target.
USA needed 17 runs in the last two overs when Paudel gave the 49th over to Sandeep Lamichhane who did not have his best outing on Monday. Number nine batter Jasdeep Singh hit him for a six to collect 12 runs from the over.
Now the onus was on Sompal Kami who had to save four runs in the last over but van Schalkwyk finished the match with a six on the fourth delivery. Jahangir was named Player of the Match for his hundred.
It was USA's seventh win in the tournament and now they stand at second position in the points table. Nepal, on the other hand, suffered their seventh loss in nine matches and are currently placed in seventh place.
Nepal will face Scotland on Tuesday in their next match and the USA will also clash with Scotland on Thursday at the same venue.
