Put into bat first, Nepal recovered from the loss of two early wickets to post 160 in 50 overs. Gyanendra Malla (34), captain Paras Khadka (28), Sharad Vesawkar (27) and Binod Bhandari (35) took Nepal to 146/7, but the Oman bowling attack stifled the tail-end, which managed to add only eight runs for the last three wickets.
Munis Ansari was the pick of the Oman bowlers, taking three for 27, while Lalcheta claimed two.[break]
Oman captain Vaibhav Wategaonkar (27) again led the run-chase, while Ajay Lalchata (24) and Sultan Ahmed (19) contributed patient knocks. However, the skipper´s dismissal sparked a batting collapse as four wickets fell in four overs to leave Oman in a precarious position at 118/eight. Thirty-nine years old Hemal Metha added 10 runs before Oman was all out for 132 runs. Basanta Regmi and Sanjam Regmi took two wickets each for Nepal. Malla was adjudged the man of the match.
It was Nepal´s third consecutive victory over Oman in 50-over format.
Nepal´s skipper Khadka was pleased with his team´s performance on a tough wicket. "We were 20-25 runs short, looking at the wicket, but the wicket was not that easy. With our bowling attack though, we thought 160 was defendable," said Khadka.
Khadka remained optimistic about Nepal´s final group match, which will be against Italy. "We still have one more game to go, and if results fall in our favor, we still have a slight chance of making it to the next round. So fingers crossed that everything goes well, and we should be doing ok," he added.
Oman captain Vaibhav Wategaonkar felt his team let chances slip through its fingers. "It was an achievable target, but again the same thing happened -- we didn´t bat well. The batsmen were struggling to get the runs," he said.
Nepal moved into third position after the win, while Oman dropped to fifth.
Uganda qualifies
Meanwhile, Uganda defeated the USA by 82 runs at the St David´s Ground to continue its unbeaten run in the tournament and secure berth in Sunday´s final as well as the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers 2014.
In a clash of the two leading teams of the tournament, Uganda elected to bat and reached 175. In reply, USA struggled to build any lasting partnership and was all out for 93 runs in 40 overs.
Following the victory, Uganda unseated the USA at the top of the table and secured passage to Sunday´s final as well as the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers 2014.
In other matches, host Bermuda defeated Italy by 60 runs at Somerset CC to record its second victory in the tournament.
Nepal takes on Italy Saturday
Nepal will take on Italy in the last league match of the tournament on Saturday. Nepal had defeated Italy in their previous three encounters.
If Nepal beats Italy by a handsome margin and the USA loses to Bermuda on Saturday, Nepal, the USA and Bermuda will all have six points each and net run rate will come into play for deciding the second team to go through to the World Cup Qualifiers.
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