Nepal continued their chase-free start against Oman, reaching 102/1 in 25.1 overs as the batters consolidated with a steady flow of singles and occasional twos. By the time the innings moved past the 20-over mark, Arjun Kumal and Aasif Sheikh were holding their shape, with Nepal still firmly in control after building a major second-wicket stand.
Oman’s bowling and Nepal’s platform
Following Nepal’s decision to bat after winning the toss, the early overs featured calm, patient accumulation rather than big swings. Hassnain Shah and Siddharth Bukkapatnam were repeatedly tasked with breaking partnerships, but the Nepal batters kept finding gaps and rotating the strike.
- 18.4 overs: Siddharth Bukkapatnam to Arjun Kumal, 2 runs (played towards mid wicket) as Nepal moved to 76/1.
- 18.5 overs: Siddharth Bukkapatnam to Arjun Kumal, 1 run (square leg), Nepal 77/1.
- 18.6 overs: Siddharth Bukkapatnam to Aasif Sheikh, 1 run (mid on), Nepal 78/1.
- 19.1 overs: Nadeem Khan to Aasif Sheikh, 1 run (covers), Nepal 79/1.
- 19.2 overs: Nadeem Khan to Arjun Kumal, 1 run (covers), Nepal 80/1.
- 19.3 overs: Nadeem Khan to Aasif Sheikh, 1 run (mid wicket), Nepal 81/1.
- 19.4 overs: Nadeem Khan to Arjun Kumal, 1 run (point), Nepal 81/1.
- 19.5 & 19.6 overs: Nadeem Khan to Aasif Sheikh saw two dot balls (mid off), keeping Nepal at 82/1.
- 20.1 overs: Siddharth Bukkapatnam to Arjun Kumal, dot ball (mid wicket), Nepal 82/1.
- 20.2 overs: Siddharth Bukkapatnam to Arjun Kumal, 1 run (fine leg), Nepal 83/1.
- 20.3 & 20.4 overs: Siddharth Bukkapatnam to Aasif Sheikh produced two dots (covers and mid wicket), Nepal remained 83/1.
- 20.5 & 20.6 overs: Siddharth Bukkapatnam to Aasif Sheikh, 1 run (mid on), then to Arjun Kumal, 1 run (mid wicket), Nepal advanced to 84/1.
- 21.1 & 21.2 overs: Nadeem Khan to Arjun Kumal hit a dot (square leg) followed by 1 run (mid off), Nepal 85/1.
- 21.3 & 21.4 overs: Nadeem Khan to Aasif Sheikh, 1 run (covers) and then to Arjun Kumal, 1 run (mid off), Nepal 87/1.
- 21.5 & 21.6 overs: Nadeem Khan to Aasif Sheikh, 0 then 1 run (mid off), Nepal 88/1.
Key partnership milestones
As the innings progressed, Nepal’s momentum sharpened around the middle overs. A crucial turning point arrived when Nepal reached the 100-run mark for the second wicket, with Aarif Sheikh and Arjun Kumal building the platform.
- 22.1 overs: Siddharth Bukkapatnam to Aasif Sheikh, 1 run (mid on) — Nepal 89/1.
- 22.2 & 22.3 overs: Siddharth Bukkapatnam to Arjun Kumal, dot (mid wicket) and then 0 (no run) before another ball brought Nepal to 90/1 via a 1 run at 22.4 (point).
- 22.4 overs: Siddharth Bukkapatnam to Arjun Kumal, 1 run (point) — Nepal 90/1.
- 22.5 & 22.6 overs: Siddharth Bukkapatnam to Aasif Sheikh, dot (mid off) then 1 run (square leg) — Nepal 91/1.
- 23.1 overs: Hassnain Shah to Aasif Sheikh, 1 run (mid on) — Nepal 93/1.
- 23.2 overs: Hassnain Shah to Arjun Kumal, wide — Nepal 94/1; then 1 run (fine leg) — Nepal 95/1.
- 23.3 overs: Hassnain Shah to Aasif Sheikh, 4 leg byes — Nepal 99/1.
- 23.4 overs: Hassnain Shah to Aasif Sheikh, 1 run (mid on) — Nepal 100/1.
- 23.5 overs: Hassnain Shah to Arjun Kumal, no run (mid off) — Nepal 100/1.
- 23.6 overs: Hassnain Shah to Arjun Kumal, 1 run (square leg) — Nepal 100/1 as the innings continued.
Innings control: wickets, set batsmen and over-by-over end
Oman had struck earlier, but after that breakthrough Nepal managed the tempo effectively. The next significant note was a fifty for Aarif Sheikh, followed by the late movement toward 102 as the innings entered the 25th over.
- 23.4 overs: OUT — Oman removed Jiten Ramanandi in the second over (the score at that stage was 99/1 moving toward the next over).
- 23.5 overs: FIFTY — Aarif Sheikh reached 50 off 66 balls to take Nepal forward.
- 23.6 overs: 100 STAND — Aarif Sheikh and Arjun Kumal combined for a 100-run partnership for the second wicket.
- 24.1 overs: Siddharth Bukkapatnam to Arjun Kumal, no run (mid wicket) — Nepal remained 101/1.
- 24.2 overs: Siddharth Bukkapatnam to Arjun Kumal, no run (mid wicket) — Nepal 101/1.
- 24.3 overs: Siddharth Bukkapatnam to Arjun Kumal, no run (covers) — Nepal 101/1.
- 24.4 & 24.5 overs: Siddharth Bukkapatnam kept things tight with two more dot balls (covers and square leg) — Nepal stayed 101/1.
- 24.6 overs: Siddharth Bukkapatnam to Arjun Kumal, 1 run (square leg) — Nepal moved to 102/1.
- 25.1 overs: Hassnain Shah to Arjun Kumal, no run — Nepal finished the passage at 102/1.
Playing XIs and toss result
Oman and Nepal named their squads for the match, with Nepal starting the innings after winning the toss.
- Oman (Playing XI): Jatinder Singh (c), Hasnain Ul Wahab, Hammad Mirza, Jiten Ramanandi, Aryan Bisht, Vinayak Shukla (w), Wasim Ali, Shakeel Ahmed, Siddharth Bukkapatnam, Hassnain Shah, Nadeem Khan.
- Nepal (Playing XI): Binod Bhandari (w), Aarif Sheikh, Arjun Kumal, Rohit Paudel (c), Dipendra Singh Airee, Aasif Sheikh, Gulsan Jha, Karan KC, Nandan Yadav, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi.
- Toss: Nepal won the toss and opted to bat.
