The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League Two (2023-27) is the essential pathway for associate nations aiming to qualify for the 2031 and beyond global events. Every match in this tournament carries full ODI status and ranking points, making each contest significant beyond local bragging rights. With the three-team tri-series between Nepal, UAE, and Oman now underway at Kirtipur, today’s Match 98 is the second encounter between Nepal and UAE this week — Match 97 was earlier in the tournament schedule.

Nepal (7th, 5W-13L) play on home turf at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground — a fortress where the altitude (1,300m above sea level), the slow gripping pitch, and Nepal’s familiarity with local conditions combine to give them a meaningful home advantage. UAE (last place, 5W-15L) have had a difficult tournament but showed they can compete: their recent T20I series win over Nepal (winning the only completed match by 6 wickets DLS when Khuzaima Tanveer and Muhammad Waseem starred) demonstrated genuine competitive quality.

Note: Oman is also in this tri-series — matches 97-103 will all be played at Kirtipur through early May 2026. These matches carry full ODI points. For Nepal: home conditions + Lamichhane’s spin mastery = strong position. UAE: Muhammad Waseem provides their batting threat.

Aarif Sheikh leads Nepal’s batting in this League 2 campaign with 463 runs — the team’s highest scorer by a significant margin. His patient right-hand accumulation style, combined with the ability to accelerate in the death overs, makes him the foundation of Nepal’s innings. Rohit Kumar Paudel (captain) and Dipendra Singh Airee provide the aggressive middle-order power-hitting that can accelerate any innings. Kushal Bhurtel‘s explosive opening has been effective in home conditions — he recently found form against UAE in the T20I series.

Sandeep Lamichhane (23 wickets — Nepal’s leading wicket-taker in League 2) is the match’s most important single player. His world-class leg-spin on the slow, turning Kirtipur surface — where the ball grips and bounces unpredictably — produces remarkable results. His variations: the wrong’un that goes the other way, the flipper that hurries through, and the classic leg-break that rips sharply from outside off stump are all near-impossible to read on this surface from a right-hand batter’s perspective. Against UAE’s right-hand-heavy batting lineup, he is as close to unplayable as T20 cricket allows.

Muhammad Waseem is UAE’s batting cornerstone — aggressive, experienced, and capable of completely changing any match with his explosive left-hand hitting. His role against Nepal’s spin-heavy bowling attack at Kirtipur will be to attack Lamichhane before he settles into rhythm — a risky but potentially effective strategy for UAE. Khuzaima Tanveer showed early in Match 97 that he can challenge Nepal’s top order — his right-arm medium-fast generated enough movement in Kirtipur’s morning conditions to claim an early wicket (Nepal were 9/1 in 3.4 overs). If he can replicate that early pressure, UAE’s bowling gives them a realistic path to an upset.