In what turned out to be a stunning collapse at Kathmandu, the USA got shot down for 35 as they joined Zimbabwe in the list of lowest ODI totals in the history of the game. Sandeep Lamichhane (6/16) and left-arm spinner Sushan Bhari (4/5) shared all the 10 wickets between them to reduce a hopeless USA batting line up to smithereens.
Nepal won the toss and put the USA in on a wicket that was tough for batting in the initial stages. It is learned that the early morning dew tends to soften up the surface which in turn lets the ball to grip and turn on a wicket that ostensibly looks hard. Lamichhane reveling in the conditions produced a masterclass of leg-spin bowling. He started the carnage by having Ian Holland caught at slip off a sharp turning leg break before bamboozling Monank and Nisarg off identical googlies that turned viciously with a hint of extra bounce striking top of middle on both the occasions.
USA inexplicably kept on playing all over to deliveries that went on straight with the arm off Bhari. He cleaned up Jones and Stevenson to an arm ball that went through the gate with both the batsman offering daylight of a gap between their pad and the bat. Lamichanne bagged the final and his 6th wicket overall to put an end to a shabby batting performance.
Nosthush Kenjige castled Gyanendra Malla and Subash Khakurel in quick succession. However, the early strikes were not going to bother Nepal as they cantered home without losing any further wickets with 268 balls to spare. That puts Nepal 4th on the list for biggest ODI victories in terms of the number of balls remaining. Overall, the match lasted just 17.2 overs.
Brief scores: USA 35 in 12 overs (Sandeep Lamichhane 6-16, Sushan Bhari 4-5) lost to Nepal 36/2 (Paras Khadka 20*; Nosthush Kenjige 2-15) by eight wickets
