Nepal leave bottom two to climb fifth in League 2 standings

By Cricketing Country | Posted Posted May 18, 2026

Nepal have moved out of the bottom two in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 table after a six-wicket win over Scotland, climbing to fifth place on Monday at the TU International Cricket Stadium.

Chasing a modest target of 195, Nepal were guided by Ishan Pandey’s maiden international fifty and a composed unbeaten knock from captain Rohit Paudel. The pair added a 104-run stand for the third wicket to secure Nepal’s 10th win in the competition.

Ishan Pandey scored 55 off 61 balls, hitting two sixes and five boundaries before being caught by Mark Watt off his own bowling.

Rohit Paudel remained unbeaten on 74 from 98 deliveries, striking five boundaries and two sixes.

Openers Kushal Bhurtel (28) and Aasif Sheikh (29) gave Nepal a quick start with a 58-run opening stand.

For Scotland, Mark Watt (2/58) and Brandon McMullen (1/5) were among the wickets. Debutant off-spinner Ollie Jones went wicketless, conceding 38 runs in eight overs.

Earlier, Scotland elected to bat after winning the toss and were bowled out for 194 in 39.1 overs.

Brandon McMullen (73 off 44) and Michael English (51 off 72) were the only batters to make significant contributions.

Nepal’s spinners dominated with eight wickets between them, led by Lalit Rajbanshi, who returned 4 for 32 from eight overs and was named Player of the Match.

Sandeep Lamichhane took 3 for 47, becoming the fastest to 150 ODI wickets, reaching the milestone in 73 matches and surpassing Mitchell Starc, who achieved it in 77.

Sompal Kami, Dipendra Singh Airee and Nandan Yadav also picked up a wicket each.

Nepal will next face USA on Friday in their final home match of the 2023–27 League 2 cycle before heading to the Netherlands and Oman for the remaining two legs