Ilyas stars again as Oman sink Nepal

An exemplary all-round display from Aqib Ilyas saw Oman cruise to a comfortable eight-wicket victory over their hosts at Kathmandu on Sunday (February 9) and go top of the table in CWC League 2. Ilyas led a fightback with the ball to reel in an initially-dominant Nepal with four consecutive wickets at the back end of the first innings before striking a near-flawless unbeaten century in the second to help Oman chase down a target of 250.

Nepal had set themselves a solid platform after losing the toss and being put in to bat, with skipper Gyanendra Malla building partnerships with Subash Khakurel and Paras Khadka to take Nepal to triple figures for the loss of just one wicket. But Mohammad Nadeem brought Oman back into the game with a double strike in the 24th over before Ilyas came into the attack, removing Malla with his first ball and then finding regular wickets through the back of the innings to keep Nepal pegged back to a chaseable 249-8 by the break.

It would not prove nearly enough to deny Oman and Ilyas, who came in at three with the score at 49-1 and batted through to the end to deliver his side a win with 16 balls to spare, in the process racking up the Sultanate's first ODI ton. In the process, he became only the 15th batsman to take four or more wickets and score a century in the same ODI.

Oman had struggled early to make good on skipper Zeeshan Maqsood's decision to bowl, as Nepal openers Malla and Khakurel put together solid opening partnership of 49 before Nadeem pinned Khakurel in front for 22. Malla pressed on with Khadka, the latter especially scoring fluently on a tricky track, as the pair added a further 58 runs to provide Nepal with an uncharacteristically solid platform. Nadeem kept Oman in the hunt however, enhancing his reputation as a partnership-breaker when he was brought back in the 24th and struck with the first ball of his second spell. Khadka rushed on the pull and popped up a top edge to midwicket, before DS Airee too fell to the short ball just three balls later hooking to deep backward square.

Nadeem was involved in the fourth wicket too, taking a simple catch at backward point as Malla, having brought up his half century, sliced a thick outside edge off Ilyas to depart for 56. At 128-4 with 22 overs to go, Nepal nonetheless had an opportunity to post a significant score, and young Kushal Malla - introduced as