It took Nepal 36.4 overs. One wicket. That was enough.
Kushal Bhurtel made sure of it. The opener finished unbeaten on 120 off 118 balls Saturday as Nepal chased down 196 against the United States at the Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground in Kirtipur — a target that never looked likely to cause trouble once Bhurtel got going.
Thirteen fours. Four sixes. A 145-run opening stand with Aasif Sheikh, who contributed 58 off 72 balls before edging one to become the only Nepal wicket to fall all afternoon.
Debutant Ishan Pandey came and went unbothered, finishing 20 not out. Mohammad Mohsin was the only U.S. bowler to take a wicket — cold comfort in a total mismatch.
The Americans had batted first and given themselves something to defend. Smit Patel was the reason — 83 off 89 balls, eight fours, three sixes, and a 100-run second-wicket stand with Shehan Jayasuriya that briefly made 195 look competitive.
Jayasuriya made 50 off 53. Milind Kumar chipped in with 28, Harmeet Singh 14. After that, the scorecard gets thin fast — no other U.S. batter reached double figures.
Nepal’s bowlers had wrapped it up in 43.3 overs. Dipendra Singh Airee led the way with four wickets. Sompal Kami took two. Sandeep Lamichhane and Gulshan Jha picked up one each. Shubham Ranjane and Mohammad Mohsin didn’t even last — both run out.
In the standings, Nepal moved to 20 points but stayed seventh. Canada sits one place above on 21 points with two games in hand. Namibia is fifth on 22 but has played two more matches. The UAE props up the table on 14 points from two fewer games.
Ten matches left. Nepal need wins — a lot of them — to force their way into direct World Cup global qualifier contention and secure the top-six finish that keeps their ODI status intact.
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