Nepal one win away from global qualifiers

Kathmandu, July 27

Nepal defeated Kuwait by seven wickets to climb to second position in the ICC World Twenty20 Asia Region Final at the Indian Association Ground in Singapore today.

Nepal skipper Paras Khadka plays a shot during the ICC World Twenty20 Asia Region Final match against Kuwait at the Indian Association Ground in Singapore on Saturday. Courtesy: CricketingNepal

With the win, Nepal accumulated four points with one match to play, while Singapore are at the top with five points.

The two sides will face each other on Sunday and the winners will earn the title along with the berth in the global qualifiers. Singapore, who had a match washed out earlier in the tournament, will seal the spot in case of no result.

Qatar — who earned four points from two wins including one against Nepal — were out of the race along with Kuwait (three) and Malaysia (two).

On Saturday, Kuwait recovered from 64-5 to post a challenging 141-9 in their allotted 20 overs after Nepal skipper Paras Khadka elected to field first. In reply, Khadka hit a timely half century to guide the team to 143-3 with 25 balls to spare.

Chasing a tricky target, Nepal openers Khadka and his deputy Gyanendra Malla made a bright start putting up 44 runs in 3.5 overs. Malla had already struck two consecutive boundaries off Muhammad Kashif before he lost his cool and handed a catch to Bilal Tahir in the next ball. Khadka and Sharad Vesawkar then took control over the match with a 78-run partnership for the second wicket — the highest by Nepali pair in T20 International.

Khadka fell in the first ball of the 14th over after hitting 11 fours and a six in his quick fire 68 off 42 balls. He broke his own record of most number of boundaries in a innings emulating eight fours and fives sixes on his way to scoring an unbeaten 86 against Malaysia in the first game of the twomatch series two weeks ago in Kuala Lumpur. Khadka, who was injured in the first innings of the first match against Qatar and could not play against Malaysia, also became the first Nepali batsman to score three half centuries in T20Is.

Dipendra Singh Airee’s poor form continued as he could add just one run, while Vesawkar and Rohit Kumar Paudel took the team home without further loss adding 19 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket.

Vesawkar scored 38 not out off just 30 balls that included four boundaries and a six, while Paudel remained unbeaten on six.

Earlier, Basant Regmi and Sandeep Lamichhane jolted Kuwait with two wickets each in sixth and eighth overs respectively before skipper Muhammad Kashif single-handedly took the team to the challenging total.

Karan KC made the first breakthrough in the second over when he had Meet Bhavsar (five) caught behind by wicketkeeper Binod Bhandari with just six runs on the board.

Regmi then bowled opener Ravija Sandaruwan (15) in the first ball of the sixth over and he had Adnan Idrees caught by Vesawkar in the last ball to reduce Kuwait to 46-3. Idrees was looking dangerous and had already struck five boundaries in his 14-ball 25.

Lamichhane then struck twice in the eighth over. Skipper Khadka took a catch to dismiss Bilal Tahir (13) in the third ball of the over, while Lamichhane trapped Usman Waheed leg before the wicket three balls later. Abinash Bohara removed Mohammed Aslam (23) in the 14th over and Lamichhane returned to bowl Shiraz Khan (naught) in the next over to put Kuwait under pressure at 95-7.

Regmi claimed his third scalp when he had Mohammad Ahsan caught by Khadka in the 17th over, while Karan KC dismissed Jandu Hamoud, caught by Sompal Kami for two in the 19th over. Kashif and Ilyas Ahmed (one) then added 29 runs off the last 10 balls for the unbroken final wicket. Kashif remained unbeaten on 49 off 36 balls that included two boundaries and four sixes.

Regmi (3-20) and Lamichhane (3-21) shared six wickets between them for Nepal, while KC returned with 2-40. Bohara grabbed a wicket conceding 35 runs, while Sompal Kami was the lone bowler used by skipper Khadka who failed to take wicket.

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