Middle-order batsman Arif Sheikh's specialty is staying at the crease for long periods in ODI cricket. When he displayed this ability on Wednesday, Nepal won by 5 wickets against the Netherlands in World Cup Cricket League-2. It was a shocking result for the Dutch team.

Nepal had already defeated the Netherlands twice in the 50-over match at their home ground and once at home. After Arif scored the only half-century of the game at Forthhill in Dundee, Scotland, the Nepali team managed to defeat the Netherlands for the first time in an ODI on a neutral ground.

After Arif scored 78 runs, Nepal crossed the target of 226 runs in 47.1 overs. Arif hit a six over point off Vivian Kingma in the 40th over to complete his personal fifty off 81 balls. Arif, who played firmly at the crease from the start, hit 7 fours and 2 sixes in a total of 99 balls. Apart from spending the

confidently at the crease, another attribute of his is his calm nature. 'Iceman' Arif played one of the worst innings of Nepali cricket in the cold air of Dundee. He said about the innings against the Netherlands, 'I just fulfilled the role given by the coach (Stuart Law). It will definitely be a good experience to contribute to the team. So I am enjoying my role. The coach told me to finish the game, but unfortunately I could not finish the game. In the coming days, if the same situation happens again, I will definitely finish the game.'

Arif shared 55 for the fourth wicket with captain Rohit Paudel and 89 runs for the fifth wicket with Dipendrasingh Airi for the fifth wicket and showed Nepal the way to victory. It is difficult to play here. Also, we lost two wickets and it became difficult. From there an important partnership was required. We managed to win the match after sharing two half-centuries," Arif said. "If you play safely in the first 10-15 balls, it becomes easier to bat. This is a good wicket for batting.

Arif scored his eighth half-century while playing the 59th ODI. This is also his highest score. His previous personal high was 66, which he scored in 2022 against Oman in Houston, USA. Last year, Arif scored an unbeaten 51 runs against Scotland in Dallas, USA to give Nepal a 5-wicket win.

Arif's batting, Nepal's impressive victory over the Netherlands

Arif has scored the most 239 runs in 7 innings in one-day internationals played by Nepal in the last one year. During this period, captain Rohit has scored 227 runs in 8 matches and Gulshan Jha has scored 193 runs in 8 matches. Arif has scored 1203 runs in ODIs at an average of 27 overs. Only Rohit Paudal (1813), his brother Asif Sheikh (1561) and Kushal Bhurtel (1363) from Nepal have scored more runs than Arif.

Arif Dai played a very good innings, calm and decent. Right from the beginning, he played by looking at the situation, charged when needed,' said captain Rohit about Arif's innings against the Netherlands. Arif has been playing for the Nepali team since the World Cricket League Division 3 in Malaysia in 2014. Sompal Kami is the only senior in the team than Arif. Along with Arif, Gyanendra Malla of Khel is currently training the team.