Nepal defeats Papua New Guinea by 2 wickets

Nepal has defeated Papua New Guinea by 2 wickets in a One-Day International (ODI) cricket match held today. In the match held at the Al Emirate Cricket Ground in Oman, Nepal was put to field first after Papua New Guinea won the toss and elected to bat.

However, Nepali bowlers restricted Papua New Guinea to 134 runs at the loss of all wickets in 33 overs and in the stipulated 50 overs. Nepal's leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane did not allow the Papua New Guinean batsman to play openly. He took four wickets while bowling a tight line. Lamichhane bowled 10 overs to give away only 35 runs. Nepal's Bikram Sob and Kushal Malla took two wickets each. Sob, who made his debut for the Nepali team in international cricket in today's match, took the wicket in the first ball. He returned Papua New Guinea's opening batsman Tony Ura to the pavilion.

Similarly, Sompal Kami took one wicket. Lega Sika was the top scorer for Papua New Guinea with 30 runs. Charles Amini scored 23, Gaudi Toka 22, Chad Soper 17 not out, Kiplin Doriga 15, Sesse Bau 14, and skipper Asad Bhala scored only four runs. Tony Ura and Nosina Pokana were all out for one run each while Jason Qila and Damin Rabhu returned to the pavilion without scoring a run.

In reply, Nepal surpassed the victory target of 135 runs by losing eight wickets in 39.3 overs. Rohit Kumar Poudel was the top scorer for Nepal with 41 runs. He hit two fours off 65 balls. Similarly, opening batsman Ashif Sheikh contributed 30 runs. He hit four fours in 46 balls. Sompal Kami, who came to bat at a time when the Nepali team was in crisis, scored 22 runs off 32 balls. He hit one six and four fours. Similarly, Kushal Bhurtel scored 15 runs. For Papua New Guinea, Gaudi Toka took three wickets, Damin Rabhu and Chad Soper two wickets each, and Nosina Pokana one wicket. Nepal is playing two ODIs against Papua New Guinea before the triangular one-day series against Oman and the United States in the ICC Cricket World Cup-2.