Asia Cup 2023: Nepal's ODI journey in numbers — Top run-scorer, wicket-taker, highest total and more

Nepal are newbies when it comes to men’s international cricket tournaments. They haven’t qualified for a major ICC tournament so far, but made it to the 2023 Asia Cup, having beaten the United Arab Emirates earlier this year to do so. However, it was a far from auspicious start for Nepal despite a few promising signs from their bowlers. Against Pakistan, Nepal, with Rohit Paudel as captain, crumbled under pressure to be dismissed for just 104 while looking to chase down a mammoth total of 343. Sompal Kami (28) was their top-scorer in that match. While they would hope their 238-run loss to Pakistan was one-off, Nepal next face India in what lies another tough challenge. While the Nepal men’s cricket team do not have a long cricketing history, it’s still worth looking at some statistics from the years gone by. Here are some of the key stats pertaining to Nepal in men’s ODI cricket: Highest total: 310/8 (50 overs) vs Oman (21 April, 2023) Lowest total: 103 (25.1 overs) vs UAE ((21 March, 2022) Largest victories: vs UAE (By 177 runs) and vs PNG (by nine wickets) Smallest victories: vs Netherlands (1 run) and vs PNG (two wickets) Most runs: Rohit Paudel (1469 runs from 53 matches) Highest score: Rohit Paudel (126 vs PNG, 2022) Highest wicket-taker: Sandeep Lamichhane (112 wickets from 50 matches) Best bowling figures in an innings: Sandeep Lamichhane ( 6/11 vs PNG, 2021) Best bowling economy rate: Sandeep Lamichhane (4.32)