Kathmandu, Sept. 18: “We did not start the League 2 campaign properly in 2019 due to which we struggled in the final year (2023). This time, we will start League 2 properly and the team is excited about it,” said Rohit Kumar Paudel, captain of the Nepali side, during the press conference before the tri-series with Namibia and Netherlands started in February.

However, Nepal lost three of the four matches against Namibia and the Netherlands in the first tri-series of CWC League 2 (2024-27). While Nepal returned to ODIs after a gap of seven months in the 7th tri-series of the League cycle against Canada on Monday, the poor performance continued.

Canada defeated Nepal by 103 runs in the first match of the tri-series including Oman. Nepal lost with almost the same team that whitewashed the three ODI series against Canada before the first tri-series of League 2.

Nepal focused on T20s after the 50-over tri-series ended with Namibia and Netherlands. 

Before returning to League 2, the Nepali squad went to India for training, Sri Lanka for a three-match practice series with the SL Development Squad, and played a practice match with a club in Canada. However, the practices were not fruitful when Nepal struggled highly against Canada at Maple Leaf North-West Ground, King City. 

Nepal had won the toss and elected to field first against Canada. As per captain Paudel, they had prioritised spinners based on pitch conditions and were confident after winning the toss. 

Nevertheless, the spinners did not rescue Nepal as Canadian batters targeted them. Sandeep Lamichhane gave 48 runs in 9 overs and took one wicket, Lalit Rajbanshi bagged two wickets by giving 32 runs in 9 overs, and Rohit and Dipendra Singh Airee gave 43 and 33 runs respectively in their five-over spell each. Paudel took one wicket.

Despite the bowlers not being economical and wicket-taking as expected, Nepal managed to stop Canada to a chasable target of 254 runs. Navneet Dhaliwal added 48 runs but it took him 90 deliveries showing the pressure kept by Nepali bowlers. But the inability to break partnerships quickly allowed Canadian batters to open their arms after 30 overs.

Canadian skipper Nicholas Kirton’s 73 off 44 with three fours and six sixes was a devastating blow for Nepal. 

Still, the target was chasable as Nepal had quality batsmen with the ability to stay at the crease for a long time. Nevertheless, the batting lineup failed to stand up to the expectation. Dillion Heyliger’s fifer followed by two-wicket each from debutants Akhil Kumar and Ansh Patel ended Nepal’s winning hope. Saad Bin Zafar took the remaining one wicket to bundle out Nepal at 150 runs in 40.1 overs.

Canada’s two debutants showed the importance of new faces and challenges in cricket. Akhil, in his 5.1 overs, gave only 11 runs while Ansh gave 36 in 8 overs as Nepali batsmen struggled with the new bowling of Canada.

On the other hand, Nepal has not made any major changes even after returning to the ODI format after seven months. Compared to the squad that played the final ODI of the first tri-series against the Netherlands on February 25, Nepal had only one change to the squad: Sandeep Lamichhane replacing Anil Shah. 

Nepal’s lack of ability to bring changes and freshness to the squad seems to have backfired. Moreover, Canada is well aware of Nepal’s playstyle which demands skipper Paudel and coach Monty Desai to bring some changes now and then, if not amongst players then at least in their playing style. 

The newness will be important for Nepal as their other opponent in the tri-series, i.e. Oman has an ace against the team. The ace is Pubudu Dassanayake. A former coach of Nepal and Canada, Pubudu is now the head coach for Oman. Playing against a former head coach will demand not only Nepal but even Canada, to bring newness to the squad. 

Nepal faces Oman on Wednesday night, 8:45 pm Nepali time.