KATHMANDU: Nepal defeated Canada by 24 runs in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 match at Al Amerat Cricket Ground in Oman on Sunday.
Chasing Nepal’s target of 236 runs, Canada were bowled out for 211 in 48.4 overs.
Aaron Johnson was Canada’s top scorer with 44 runs off 49 balls, hitting six fours. Amit Gohel contributed 35 runs off 59 balls.
Akhil Kumar remained unbeaten on 30, while Shreyas Movva and captain Hamza Tariq scored 26 runs each.
For Nepal, Sandeep Lamichhane, Karan KC, Lalit Rajbanshi and Nandan Yadav took two wickets apiece.
Earlier, Nepal, who were put in to bat after losing the toss, scored 235 runs in 50 overs, losing all their wickets, with former captain Rohit Paudel leading the innings with a century.
Batting at No. 4, Rohit scored 101 runs off 126 balls, hitting eight fours and a six before being dismissed in the 48.3rd over. It was his third century in One Day Internationals (ODIs), surpassing Kushal Bhurtel’s record for ODI centuries by a Nepali batter.
Gulshan Jha came close to a half-century with an aggressive late innings, scoring 48 runs off 34 balls, including four fours and three sixes.
Rohit steadied the innings after openers Arjun Kumal and Basir Ahmed were dismissed for 23 and 30 runs, respectively. Kumal faced 54 balls, while Basir scored his runs off 57 deliveries.
Aasif Sheikh scored four runs off three balls, while Ishan Pandey was dismissed for a duck after facing four deliveries.
Lower-order batters Karan KC, Nandan Yadav and Lalit Rajbanshi could not add much to the total. Karan scored four runs, while Nandan and Lalit were dismissed for two runs each. Nepal captain Sandeep Lamichhane contributed two runs.
For Canada, Akhil Kumar claimed four wickets, while Sukhinder Singh took three and Zahid Shirzad picked up two.
Nepal will play two matches each against Canada and Oman in the series. The top four teams in the League 2 standings will qualify for the 2027 Cricket World Cup Qualifier.
With Sunday’s win, Nepal climbed to sixth place in the standings, earning 26 points from 33 matches. Canada dropped to seventh with 25 points from 34 matches, while Oman have 33 points from 29 matches.
Namibia have 31 points from 35 matches, while the UAE have 19 points from 31 matches. The United States have already secured the title with 47 points from 34 matches. Scotland have 45 points from 36 matches, and the Netherlands have 38 points from 32 matches.
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