After Nepal took two wickets in the last two balls in the ICC World Cup League-2 triangular ODI series, the match against the USA ended in a dramatic draw. After both of them scored 274 runs, the game ended in a tie and went 1-1.
Batting first after winning the toss at the Musa Cricket Stadium in Houston, Nepal lost all their wickets in 49.2 overs and scored 274 runs. In reply, Steven Taylor hit a century but the USA lost 6 wickets in 50 overs and scored 274 runs.
In the last over, the USA needed 6 runs to win. In Nepal, Adil Ansari bowled the over and everyone was in drama. The USA scored 3 in the first three balls. The United States came close to winning the toss and elected to field.
However, Nepal took two crucial wickets in the last two balls. In the fifth ball, Adil caught Aaron Jones off Rahit Padel. Similarly, Adil and Dipendra Singh Airy ran out Rahul Jariwa in the last ball to level the match.
Taylor scored 114 runs for the United States. Playing 123 balls, he struck 11 fours and 3 sixes. Similarly, captain Monak Patel added 85 runs.
Adil, who made a sensational debut for Nepal, took 3 wickets for 45 runs in 9 overs. Captain Sandeep Lamichhane and Sompal Kami took 1-1 wickets.
After Adil’s debut and the return of openers Kushal Bhurtel and Sheikh, Nepal made three changes in the game against Oman.
Batting better than in the previous game, Nepal could not cope with the final and had to be all out two balls earlier.
After three players hit half-centuries for Nepal, the finishing could not be tight. Rohit Poudel was the top scorer for Nepal with 62 runs while Asif and Dev Khanal contributed 61 and 54 runs respectively.
Asif and Kushal Bhurtel shared 56 runs for the first wicket. Both players missed the previous game due to injuries.
That’s why Kushal had to struggle while playing with the United States. Kushal was dismissed for 19 off 36 balls without hitting any boundaries. Asif hit six fours off 70 balls. Asif shared 62 runs with Dev Khanal for the second wicket.
Before being dismissed in the 37th over, Dev shared 60 runs for the third wicket with Rohit Poudel. Dev hit three fours off 69 balls. After that, Rohit shared 65 runs for the fourth wicket with Adi Ansari, who was batting at number five on his debut. This is the highest partnership of Nepali innings.
Adil and Rohit also hit sixes in the Nepali innings. Rohit played 72 balls and scored 62 runs with the help of 3 fours and 1 six. Adil, who is in his debut, added 36 runs off 24 balls with the help of 3 fours and 2 sixes. After Adil was dismissed in the 44th over, Nepal lost wickets continuously.
Nepal had lost the last 7 wickets for 31 runs.
Rusty Theron top-scored for the USA with 4 wickets while Al Khan and Saurabh Netrabhalkar took 2 wickets each.
In his ODI debut, Ansari was declared Man of the Match for his outstanding performance with bat and ball.
