MUSCAT, FEB 11
Nepal beat Oman by six wickets in the opening match of the quadrangular T20 series here at the Oman Cricket Academy Grounds in Al Amerat on Friday.
The starting match scheduled in the morning between the UAE and Ireland was postponed to February 13 after unavoidable logistical issues, the organisers said.
In the afternoon match, Dipendra Singh Airee’s 53-ball 73 powered Nepal to a comfortable chase of a modest 135 for 6 set by the hosts in the 20 overs.
Nepal reached the target with three balls to spare and pocketed the first points of the series.
Dipendra played a key knock to lift Nepal after they lost two early wickets with 22 runs on the board.
Oman medium pacer Kaleemullah accounted for both the wickets as he sent back openers Pradeep Airee (4) and Asif Sheikh (14) in the third over.
Gyanendra Malla (13) tried to consolidate innings along with Airee but was run out by Ayaan Khan with the score at 62.
Dipendra hit eight fours and a six in his 73 and found a good supporter in Aarif Sheikh with 25 runs towards the end.
Earlier, Nepal won the toss and elected to bowl first.
Oman lost wickets at regular intervals and could not raise the run-rate.
Openers Kashyap Prajapati (11) and Jatinder Singh (13) failed to gather momentum and same continued with Shoaib Khan and Ayaan Khan who both got out for 11 runs.
Abinash Bohara was the pick of Nepal bowlers with 3 wickets for 26 in his four overs.
Star spinner Sandeep Lamichhane made it difficult for Omani batters with a tight spell of three overs giving away 17 runs for one wicket.
However Oman skipper Zeeshan Maqsood played a good knock of 43 runs with support of Mohammad Nadeem (31) as Oman posted a respectable total of 135 in 20 overs.
On Saturday, Nepal meet the UAE at 10 am while Oman take on Ireland at 2 pm.
Oman need a win to keep their chances of topping the series and another win will consolidate the top position of Nepal in the points table.
BRIEF SCORES
Oman 135-6 in 20 overs (Zeeshan Maqsood 43, Mohammad Nadeem 31; Abinash Bohara 3-26) lost to Nepal 137-4 in 19.3 overs (Dipendra Singh Airee 73, Aarif Sheikh 25; Kaleemullah 2-24)
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