Gutsy knock of USA’s Shayan Jahangir was overshadowed by Karan KC’s four-fer with the new ball as Nepal beat United States (USA) by six wickets in ICC World Cup Qualifiers 2023 clash at Takashinga Sports Club, Harare. Bhim Sharki's unbeaten 77 helped Nepal chase down a below par target of 208 with six wickets in hand and seven overs to spare.
Karan strikes with new ball
After Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel won the toss and opted to field first, Karan let the new ball do the talking. He dismissed Steven Taylor and Saiteja Mukkamalla off consecutive deliveries in his first over. From the other end, Lalit Rajbanshi kept the pressure on. Karan struck again to end Aaro Jones' blockathon in his eighth over. In his next over, he got the wicket of Nosthush Kenjige to reduce USA for 18/4.
Jahangir rescues USA
Just when it seemed like a partnership was building, Dipendra Singh got the wicket of Gajanand Singh (26). At 65/5 in 21st over, Jahangir walked in to the middle. In the 28th over, Rajbanshi came back into the attack and got the wicket of Sushant Modani who scored 42 runs from 71 balls. In the 37th over, Nisrag Patel departed. Few overs later, he got to his half-century from 56 balls. With eighth wicket falling in the 44th over, Jahangir went ballistic and hit Karan for two sixes and a four. In the penultimate over, he reached his maiden ODI century from just 79 balls. With two quick wickets, USA got all out for 207 from 49 overs.
Jahangir remained stranded on one end. His 100-run knock was laced with 10 fours and three sixes. He became the fifth wicketkeeper-batter at no.7 to score an ODI century, a feat achieved by India’s MS Dhoni, New Zealand’s Luke Ronchi, England’s Jos Buttler and Australia’s Matthew Wade.
Easy run chase
In reply, Aasif Sheikh fell early as Saurabh Netravalkar trapped him in the front of the wickets. Kushal Bhurtel (39) got off to a good start but could not convert it into a big score. Skipper Paudel and Kushal Malla failed to capitalise as well. The fifth-wicket partnership between Bhim Sharki and Airee brought calm to the run chase. Airee scored quickly whereas Sharki held on to one end. The unbeaten 74-run partnership helped Nepal get over the line in the 43rd over. Sharki scored 77 runs from 114 balls including seven fours and one six. Airee scored 39 runs from 32 balls including five fours and one six.
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