Nepal keeps the top three dream alive with back-to-back wins

After bowling out Namibia for 285 on Wednesday – their record ODI run – Nepal recovered from 77/5 in pursuit of Scotland’s 274 on Friday thanks to centuries from Kushal Malla (81) and Dipendra Singh Airee (64) and a host of contributions. from the tail.

Still in an unlikely position to earn a third automatic spot in the Cricket World Cup qualifiers, a win will allow them to continue their late run and also host six of their last ten matches.

If they don’t automatically qualify for the top three, qualifying for the 2023 Cricket World Cup is still possible, although their path takes an unwanted detour into a six-team qualifying play-off, effectively the equivalent of the season’s bottom four teams. League 2 and the winners of the two Challenge League groups (Jersey and Canada).

It has not been a typical home series for Nepal, with the batting taking most of the team’s responsibility for too long in its bowling line-up. New coach Monty Desai has made a stunning first impression and his players have bought into a well-calculated game plan.

Nepal’s first of two tri-series wins better reflects Desai’s ethos, with Kushal Bhurtel’s 115 (113) epitomizing the plan. Unveiled early in his T20I career, Bhurtel paced his innings with a combination of shots supported by young skipper Rohit Paudel (72 from 76 balls) in a stabilizing partnership.

The team overcame the late batting to win by two wickets and 14 balls to spare. He took his momentum into the match against the Scots, where again batting reigned supreme.

Scotland rested a host of players after securing top spot in the League Two table, although Richie Berrington’s side still proved a difficult proposition. Mainstay all-rounder Michael Leask showed again why he is regarded by many as one of the premier lower-order batsmen in the Associate game. He hits an 85-ball 107* in a superb counter-attack.

The right-hander walked out at 109/5 in the 24th over, losing Brandon McMullen early, before hitting nine sixes and three fours in his dominant knock. Debutant bowler Jack Jarvis and Mark Watt scored 26 and 20 respectively as the side squeezed out all possible runs. Leask drove his runs and hit 30 runs off his last 15 balls to ensure the side posted a defendable total.

Nepal stumbled in their response, although Kushal Malla, still days away from 19, was adept in his fightback. The left-hander scored just eight in his first 15 deliveries and shifted gears to take his strike tally into three figures in the 30s. He brought up his fifty (42 balls) with a six, but falls to the nimble left-arm orthodox of Watt 19, missing a maiden ODI hundred.

Dipendra Singh Airee took Malla’s reign in one of his most mature knocks in a Nepal jersey, pacing the team’s chase with aplomb while in the middle of the lower order. Gulshan Jha (17) fell to the seventh wicket and 55 runs short of victory, although the experience of Sompal Kami, one of the track’s top 9 wickets, proved a good shelf for Airee, whose 85* and 1/25 (5) led to the Man of the Match award.

The Nepalese would still probably need seven or eight wins from their last 10 matches, despite crossing paths with the United Arab Emirates four times before the end of the cycle, as well as Namibia in an important home game on Saturday.

The United Arab Emirates also host Namibia in two make-up matches later in the month, and a 1-1 draw boosted Nepal’s chances again.

– Nepal v Namibia: February 18
– Scotland v Namibia: 20 February
– Nepal v Scotland: February 21

– UAE v Namibia: 23 February
– UAE v Namibia: February 25
– Papua New Guinea v Nepal: February 27
– UAE v Papua New Guinea: February 28
– UAE v Nepal: March 2
– Nepal v Papua New Guinea: March 3
– UAE v Papua New Guinea: March 5
– UAE v Nepal: March 6

– Nepal v Papua New Guinea: March 9
– UAE v Papua New Guinea: March 10
– Nepal v UAE: March 12
– Nepal v Papua New Guinea: March 13
– Papua New Guinea v United Arab Emirates: March 15
– Nepal v UAE: March 16

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