Asif, Jora and Gulsan steer Nepal to second warm-up win

By Cricketing Country | Posted Posted Feb 05, 2026

Nepal completed a perfect warm-up campaign with a six-wicket win over Canada, making it two wins from two ahead of the T20 World Cup. Canada, meanwhile, head into the main event without a victory in the warm-up fixtures.

Both sides were led by stand-in captains, with their regular skippers attending the captains meet in Mumbai. Harsh Thaker led Canada in the absence of Dilpreet Bajwa, while Dipendra Singh Airee captained Nepal with Rohit Paudel unavailable.

Electing to bat first, Canada posted 161 for 6, built around a 63-run opening stand between Naveneet Dhaliwal and Kanwarpal Thathgur. Dhaliwal top-scored with 41 off 36 balls, striking three sixes and a boundary, before the innings was revived late by Shreyas Movva and Jaskarandeep Singh.

Canada’s middle order stumbled, losing four wickets for just 24 runs, but a late flourish—36 runs off the final two overs bowled by Karan KC and Nandan Yadav—boosted the total. Those overs included four sixes and two boundaries.

Sandeep Lamichhane and Kushal Bhurtel were the most effective bowlers for Nepal, sharing four wickets between them. Sandeep conceded just 14 runs in his four overs, while Sompal Kami and Nandan Yadav also picked up a wicket apiece.

Nepal’s chase began in emphatic fashion as Kushal Bhurtel flicked Jaskarandeep Singh for a six over square leg off just the fourth ball of the innings. Asif Sheikh then took charge, plundering 16 runs off the final three balls of Dilon Heyliger’s first over.

Bhurtel departed in the third over, trapped lbw by an inswinging yorker from Jaskarandeep, but Asif continued to dominate. He smashed 22 runs off Heyliger’s second over to race to 47 off just 14 balls, brought up his fifty in 18 deliveries, and eventually scored 58 off 29 balls, with three sixes and six boundaries, before retiring out.

Sundeep Jora, promoted to No. 3 in Rohit Paudel’s absence, played a steady hand with 30 off 44 balls, while Gulsan Jha sealed the chase with an unbeaten 31 off 25, striking five boundaries.

For Canada, Jaskarandeep Singh, Saad Bin Zafar, and Ajayveer Singh claimed a wicket each.