CHENNAI: Asif Sheikh’s brilliant 58 off 29 balls and Sandeep Lamichane’s economical bowling to finish with 2 for 14 led Nepal to a six-wicket win over Canada in the 2026 T20 World Cup 2026 warm-up match.
It marked Nepal’s second straight win in the warm-ups, while Canada suffered its second defeat against Italy.
Batting first, Canada lost opener Yuvraj Samra early on and was dismissed for a slow 7 runs off 15 balls in the fourth over. Navneet Thaliwal and Kanwarpal Dutkur put on 63 runs for the second wicket to stabilize the innings.
However, Canada slumped to 4 for 24 off 20 balls when Duthkur fell to Kushal Purdel.
Burdell dismissed Nicholas Kirton before Lamichane struck, dismissed Thaliwal for 41, then cleaned up Harsh Thackeray.
Shreyas Mowwa scored an unbeaten 38 off 19 balls while Jaskaran Singh added 21 off 11 balls. Their efforts helped Canada score 56 runs in the last four overs, posting 161 for 6.
Chasing 162, Nepal lost Burdell early, but Asif Sheikh and Sandeep Zhora put on 84 off 52 balls for the second wicket.
Asif retired on 58 and Zora soon followed, but Gulshan Jha’s unbeaten 31 led Nepal to victory with two overs to spare.
Nepal, who were drawn in Group C, will play all their group-stage matches at the Wankhede Stadium, starting with their campaign opener against England on February 8 and a clash against Italy on February 12.
The team will face the West Indies on February 15 before completing the group-stage matches against Scotland on February 17.
Team Nepal: Rohit Boutal (catch), Dipendra Singh Iry, Sandeep Lamichane, Kushal Purdel, Asif Sheikh, Sundeep Zhora, Arif Sheikh, Basir Ahmed, Chompal Kami, Karan KC, Nandan Yadav, Gulshan Jha, Lalit Rajbanshi, Sher Malla and Lokesh Bam.