USA register comprehensive win over Nepal
USA ended their seven match losing streak in the ICC World Cup League 2 credit to a disciplined bowling performance which bundled out Nepal for 174 runs and an explosive 63 ball 92 from Steven Taylor. Nepal looked to had set the foundation for scoring rapidly in the last ten overs as they were 139 for 4 after the end of 38 overs. However, flurry of wickets in the last 10 overs restricted Nepal to a below par total.
Sent in to bat, Nepal lost an early wicket of Aasif Sheikh in the third over. Despite the early wicket, Kushal Bhurtel and Gyanendra Malla got Nepal off to a decent start as Nepal were 53 for 1 after 10 overs. However Nepal’s innings never really got any momentum after Karima Gore picked the important wicket of Kushal Bhurtel by bowling him out.
Rohit Paudel couldn’t continue his superb run of form in this match. Karima Gore was the star in the field as he took a stunning one handed catch of Rohit Paudel diving to his left. Debutant Gulshan Jha who came in at 6 only managed to get 28 runs after being dropped twice at slip region.
Kushal Malla continued in disappointing run of form as he was out for 0. He was looking to be aggressive from the first ball, swing hard at everything. Gyanendra Malla was the top scorer for Nepal but his 55 runs came at an underwhelming strike rate of 52. He reached his 50 in 91 balls and just when he was looking to accelerate Netravalkar picked up his wicket after building up the pressure from dot balls.
USA came out chase with attacking mindset. Steven Taylor let everyone know his intent as he hit Gulsan Jha for six over deep mid-wicket in the second over. Sandeep Lamichanne brought Nepal back in the game when he got two wickets of Sushant Modani and Karima Gore in the fifth over.
The game seemed be in the balance however Steven Taylor made sure the runs kept on coming as he smashed 21 runs in the very next over of Gulsan Jha. He also smashed three consecutive boundaries in Sushan Bhari’s eleventh over.
Nepal was mostly on the back foot in the second innings once Steven Taylor got going. Two late wickets from Karan KC wasn’t enough to prevent Nepal from the loss as Monank Patel and Jaskaran Malhotra made sure USA got over the line.
USA would be very satisfied with this performance as this was their first win in 8 matches. Nepal on the other hand would look improve their performance, especially in the batting department. Not being able to bat at a good strike rate seemed to be the main problem for Nepal. Nepal should look to play positive cricket against Oman on Sunday with fewer dot balls and better running between the wickets.
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