Nepal faced their third consecutive loss in the ongoing ICC World Cup League 2 in Canada. The home team, Canada, defeated Nepal by 5 wickets.
Chasing a target of 182 runs, Canada comfortably reached in 42 overs. Half-centuries from Navneet Dhaliwal and Pragat Singh helped Canada secure an easy victory. Dhaliwal scored a match-high 87 runs from 113 balls, hitting 8 fours and 4 sixes, while Singh contributed 64 runs off 83 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes.
Opener Aaron Johnson was dismissed for a duck, but a 122-run partnership for the second wicket between Dhaliwal and Singh set the foundation for the win. Harsh Thaker added 13 runs, while Nicholas Kirton remained unbeaten on 11.
For Nepal, Sandeep Lamichhane took 2 wickets, while Karan KC, Gulsan Jha, and Lalit Rajbanshi claimed one wicket each.
Earlier, Nepal won the toss and opted to bat but was bowled out for 181 runs in 46.1 overs. Sandeep Lamichhane top-scored for Nepal, making 49 runs from 48 balls with 5 fours and a six. This was Sandeep’s highest ODI score, surpassing his unbeaten 35 against PNG in 2023.
Gulsan Jha contributed 34 runs off 56 balls, forming a 34-run partnership with Aarif Sheikh for the seventh wicket. Aarif, however, only managed 10 runs from 33 balls. Sandeep and Sompal Kami put together a crucial 55-run partnership for the eighth wicket before Sompal was dismissed for 21 runs from 48 balls by Saad Bin Zafar.
Apart from opener Arjun Saud, who made 10 runs, no other batsmen reached double figures. Karan KC and Sandeep Lamichhane added 39 runs for the ninth wicket, with Karan scoring 24 off 28 balls.
For Canada, Kaleem Sana took 3 wickets, while Harsh Thaker claimed 2. Saad Bin Zafar, Dillon Heyliger, and Praveen Kumar each picked up one wicket.
In their previous matches, Nepal lost to Canada by 103 runs and suffered a 1-wicket defeat to Oman.
Nepal will play Oman next on Tuesday. In the 8-team League 2, Canada currently tops the table with 14 points, while Nepal, with 2 points from 7 matches, is second from the bottom. Oman has 5 points from 6 matches.
