Kathmandu, Oct. 22: The Nepal men’s cricket team silenced the critics as they whitewashed a three-match T2oI series against the USA in Dallas, Texas, after winning the final and third T2oI of the Stake Stars and Summit Trophy on October 21. 

The three-in-three wins in the friendly series did not help Nepal progress to any further stage in international cricket; however, it has motivated a team that was on a streak of struggles for the past few months as they now prepare to test their strength in the CWC League 2, a gateway to the 2027 Cricket World Cup.

“I believe this is a very important win for us, especially coming out of Canada as things did not go well,” Nepal’s skipper Rohit Kumar Paudel stressed, “This series win was very important for us.”

“Ending on the winning side gives confidence, so this series has given confidence to us. We want to keep this momentum throughout the ODI series,” Paudel added.

The USA is hosting Nepal and Scotland for a CWC League 2 (2024-27) tri-series which kicks off on October 25 with the inaugural match between the hosts and Scotland.

Similarly, after receiving the Player of the Match award in the 3rd T20I, Aasif Sheikh also shared that clean sweeping the series on US soil was a great boost. He said, “I am really happy that we scored a bit of runs which gave us confidence for the ODI series.”

Aasif scored 50 off 39 (5 fours, 2 sixes) before getting out in the 11th over while Nepal was chasing 157 runs in the 3rd ODI, it was the lowest total of the series where the USA batted first in all.

Skipper Paudel used seven bowlers in the final game, where Kushal Malla and Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi replaced Karan KC and Sagar Dhakal, and both delivered. Rajbanshi, the most economic bowler, took a wicket and gave 23 runs in his four-over spell while Kushal Malla ran the winning run with Kushal Bhurtel as they both cruised Nepal to victory. Sompal Kami bagged three and Rijan Dhakal took one as Nepal restricted the USA to 156/5.

It was Kami who was awarded as the MVP of the tri-series for his performance in the super over in the 2nd T2oI and as the joint highest-wicket taker alongside USA’s Jasdeep Singh: 5 wickets in 3 matches. 

Meanwhile, Malla and Bhurtel stayed not out at 44 off 30 and 40 off 32 as they successfully chased the target with eight balls and eight wickets to spare. Anil Kumar Sah added 13 off 11. Bhurtel, on the other hand, was the highest run scorer of the tournament: 142 runs in 3 matches with a high score of 92 not out.

Bagging one each, Juanoy Drysdale and Jasdeep Singh were the only two wicket-takers for the USA in the final game of the T20I tri-series.

USA, Scotland in League 2

While the USA was whitewashed in the T2oI series, it will not make it easier for Nepal to defeat them in League 2. It will also be a challenge against Scotland.

Of the eight teams in League 2, Nepal is in seventh position with only one win in eight matches, i.e. two tri-series including the Netherlands and Namibia in February and Canada and Oman in September. 

Nevertheless, the USA and Scotland are in the second and fifth positions in the League 2 table respectively. 

The USA has six wins and two losses from eight matches they played in two tri-series including Canada and the Netherlands in August and the UAE and Namibia in September. The two losses came from the hands of the Dutch side. 

Regarding Scotland, they have played two tri-series, one with Canada and the UAE in March and the other with Oman and Namibia in July. Scotland has one match against the UAE remaining as the one scheduled on March 9 was suspended. Otherwise, they have four wins, two losses and a No Result (NR) in seven matches. 

“We will now be looking forward to fighting for crucial points in the League 2,” said Monank Patel, captain of the USA, in the post-match conference on October 21.