Cricket Kitchen

Post Match Analsis: Why Nepal Lost to USA

October 27, 2025

In recent times, Nepali cricket fans had developed a strong belief that the team had found its rhythm. Nepal qualified for the World Cup in splendid fashion. Before that, they achieved a historic series win against the West Indies in a T20 series. All cricket supporters were hoping for this momentum to continue. But unfortunately, Nepal’s start in the second CWC League 2 series of 2025 was extremely poor—poor in the sense that Nepal never managed to gain control at any point in the first match against the USA.

Nepal won the toss and chose to bowl first. Looking at the results of the last 10 ODIs played at this venue, Nepal’s decision was correct. In those 10 matches, teams batting second had won 8 out of 10 times. The playing XI Nepal fielded against the USA was also balanced. However, had Nandan Yadav been included in place of Sompal Kami or Karan KC, the Nepali team would have been even stronger. Nandan is an expert at bowling with variations in the death overs.

What happened in the first innings?

The toss went Nepal’s way, and they opted to bowl—exactly what the toss-winning team usually does. Karan KC opened the bowling and conceded just 2 runs. Sompal Kami bowled from the other end and gave away only 3 runs. Nepal picked up their first wicket in the 8th over, courtesy of Sompal Kami. At the fall of the first wicket, the USA were at just 21 runs. Nepal continued using pacers until the 14th over. In the 14th over, Aarif Sheikh took Nepal’s second wicket. At that point, the USA were at 52 runs. Nepal had a firm grip on the game.

In Sandeep Lamichhane’s second over, the American batters opened up and scored 12 runs. Until the 40th over, the game was in Nepal’s favor, but Nepali bowlers failed to take wickets effectively. By the end of 40 overs, the USA had lost 5 wickets for 171 runs. In the remaining 10 overs, the USA played explosively, adding 91 runs for the loss of just 1 wicket. Despite losing the toss, the USA played cautiously and set Nepal a target of 263 runs.

Among Nepali bowlers, Sandeep Lamichhane took 2 wickets, while Dipendra Singh Airee, Sompal Kami, and Aarif Sheikh claimed one each.

What happened in the second innings?

Chasing a moderate but challenging target of 263, Nepal’s start was disastrous. Opener Kushal Bhurtel was dismissed for a duck, caught by wicketkeeper Smit Patel off Rusil Agarkar. After Kushal’s dismissal, Nepal’s reliable batter Bhim Sharki, who came to the crease, got a life in the last ball of the 8th over when Milind Kumar dropped his catch. At that time, Bhim was on 9 runs off 25 balls. Nepali fans were expecting a massive innings from him, but Bhim failed to fulfill that hope. He scored 29 runs off 50 balls before getting out.

Thereafter, Nepal’s batters returned to the pavilion one after another. Captain Rohit Paudel, who averages nearly 44 against the USA, was out for just 2 runs. Aarif Sheikh scored 20, Gulshan Jha 3, Sompal Kami 11. Sandeep Lamichhane failed to open his account, while Karan KC was out for 2. Vice-captain Dipendra Singh Airee tried to lift Nepal’s innings from one end, scoring 40 off 60 balls, but continuous wickets from the other end meant Nepal’s plan to win the first match failed. With this performance, Nepal lost by 107 runs and was defeated in the opening match of the ongoing CWC League 2 in the UAE.

Where did Nepal go wrong? Why did they lose?

Nepal’s decision to bowl first after winning the toss was 100% correct. In the last 10 matches at this venue, the team bowling first had won 8 times. Nepal bowled according to plan in the first 15 overs and maintained control. In the middle overs of the first innings, Nepali spinners contained runs but failed to take wickets. By 40 overs, the USA were at 171/5, with a run rate slightly above 4.

After 40 overs, the American batters naturally attacked—this was a consequence of Nepal’s failure to take wickets in the middle overs. It’s no secret to the world how poor Nepal’s death-over bowling is, and the American batters were well aware of it. They capitalized fully, scoring 91 runs in the last 10 overs for just 1 wicket. On a Dubai pitch where the average first-innings score is around 220, Nepali bowlers conceded 42 runs above average—262 in total. This was the primary reason for the defeat. Simply put, Nepal’s death-over bowling failed miserably once again. Karan KC and Sompal Kami gave away 32 runs in their last two overs each.

Another reason for the loss was the captain’s unclear strategy in bowler usage. He seemed stuck in a T20 hangover and relied on guesswork. Nepal used 8 different bowlers in this match. The third reason was the ineffectiveness of Nepali spinners in taking wickets during the middle overs. Sandeep Lamichhane and Lalit Rajbanshi bowled 19 overs combined, taking only 2 wickets. Lalit went wicketless. In those 19 overs, the USA scored 92 runs.

The fourth reason was the disappointing performance of Nepal’s middle-order batters. With the opening and tail-enders unable to contribute, Nepal lost. The middle order failed once again. There is now sufficient reason to doubt whether this middle order can help Nepal finish in the top 4 of the CWC League and retain ODI status.

Nepal still has 3 matches left to play in the UAE. If improvements are not made in death-over bowling and middle-order batting, the situation could worsen. Batters need to play responsibly, and it would be appropriate for Nepal to replace Karan KC with Nandan Yadav for death bowling. Nepal currently sits in 7th place in the points table and has 19 matches remaining to reach the top four.

Udeep Raj Dhungana

Sub-Editor

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