KATHMANDU:  With Sandeep Lamichhane’s  four wickets and Rohit Poudel and Sompal Kami’s laudable performance in the match, Nepal won the first ODI against Papua New Guinea played on Tuesday by two wickets.

The performance of Rohit Poudel and Sompal Kami was excellent for Nepal to win.

While pursuing the general target of 135, Nepal’s middle order faltered this time as well.  Kushal Bhurtel and Ashif Sheikh shared a strong 46 run as the opening partnership, but after the wickets kept falling, Nepal’s old batting problem came to surface again.

Rohit Poudel scored the highest 41 run to lead Nepal to victory.

Batting first after winning the toss at Al Amerat Cricket Ground in Oman, PNG were all out for 134 in 33 overs.

Charles Amini top-scored with 23, Gaudi Toka with 22, wicketkeeper Kiplin Doriga with 15 and Sese Bau with 14. Chad Soper remained unbeaten on 17 runs. Pokna added 1 run.

Jason Kila and Damien Rabhu could not even open an account.

For Nepal, Sandeep Lamichhane top-scored with 4 wickets while Bikram Sob and Kushal Malla took 2 wickets each. Sompal Kami took 1 wicket.

The scorching heat of Oman is seen as a challenge for Nepali players as the game is played in the afternoon.

PNG had suffered a humiliating defeat in a One Day International (ODI) match against the United States on Monday. The Papua New Guinea team was defeated by the USA by seven wickets.

Following the match against PNG, Nepal will compete in the ICC Cricket World Cup against the United States and Oman. Nepal will face Papua New Guinea keeping these things in their mind.

Nepal has faced PNG four times in 50 overs so far. Three games were won by Papua New Guinea, and one game was won by Nepal. The two teams met for the first time in 2005 World Cup qualifiers. Nepal was defeated by 70 runs in a match played in Malaysia.

The second such meeting took place in Dubai in 2015. Nepal had lost by two wickets at the time. Nepal was defeated by three wickets in the second match.

The last time Nepal played PNG was in the 2018 ICC World Cup qualifiers seventh place playoff. Nepal won by 6 wickets against PNG in that match. Following that, Nepal and Papua New Guinea will play for the first time.