Nepal cricket team all but out of Qualifiers race

Nepal’s Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi celebrates with wicketkeeper Subash Khakurel after taking a wicket against Singapore in the Asia Cup Qualifiers match in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. Photo: ACC

Kathmandu, September 2

Nepal failed to improve the run rate as they took 28.1 over and lost six wickets while chasing the target of 152 runs against Singapore in the fourth match of the Asia Cup Qualifiers in Kuala Lumpur today.

Nepal, who lost their first two matches against Oman and the UAE, were still in the race to make it to the final with win over Malaysia. But they made it difficult on their own and are on the verge of missing out on the chance to advance to the final.

After fourth round, Oman lead the six-team table with seven points after their match against Hong Kong was washed out, while the UAE are second with six. Hong Kong are third with five and Nepal climbed one spot up to fourth with four points. Malaysia (two) and Singapore (zero) are out of contention.

Although Nepal are not mathematically out, the road ahead in very tough. Run rate is certain to come into play even if Nepal win their match against Hong Kong and the result of the match between Oman and UAE favour them. Currently, leaders Oman have a run rate of +0.927, while UAE are pretty strong in this area with +1.583. Third-placed Hong Kong enjoy the net run rate of +1.57, thanks to their 182-run victory over the UAE on Sunday, while Nepal have +0.176.

All top four teams have chances to make it to the finals, but if UAE beat Oman, which is the most likely outcome of the match, then Nepal and Hong Kong will have to pack their bags regardless of the result of their match.

On Monday, Singapore elected to bat first and they were bowled out for 151 runs in 42 overs, setting a perfect platform for Nepal to improve their net run rate. But the Nepali batting line up was too weak they reached the target in 28.1 overs and not before losing six wickets.

After Sompal Kami took the first two wickets, including opener Arjun Mutreja in the third ball of the innings, man-of-the-match Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi, who was playing his first match of the tournament, and Sandeep Lamichhane ran riot sharing six wickets between them. Basant Regmi then finished things off taking the final wicket. Rajbanshi returned with the figures of 3-27 from nine overs, while Lamichhane took 2-36 from his full quota. Kami claimed 2-29 from seven overs and Regmi took 1-20.

Nepal had reduced Singapore to 18-3 inside five overs but skipper Chetan Ramchandra Suryawanshi and Anish Edward Paraam added 80 runs for the fourth wicket to frustrate the bowlers. Suryawanshi top scored with 60 off 88 balls hitting eight fours and a six, while Paraam scored 31 off 67 balls before Dipendra Singh Airee ran him out to break the partnership. Karthikeyan Subramanian (20) was the only other batsman to score in double figures for Singapore, who faced their fourth straight defeat.

In reply, Nepali openers Subash Khakurel and Anil Kumar Sah put on 56 runs in 10 overs but others failed to capitalise on that. Sah was the first to go, bowled by Subramanian for 43 off 32 balls that included five fours and two sixes. Skipper Paras Khadka promoted himself to No 3 with an aim of accelerating the chase but he could score run-a-ball 11 and Nepal received twin blow in the space of three balls and one run.

Khadka was bowled by Anantha Krishna in the second ball of 14th over and Khakurel, who scored 14 off 38 balls, was caught by Murteja off Krishna in the fifth ball. Vice-captain Gyanendra Malla and Dipendra Singh Airee added 47 runs in almost 10 overs but that did little help in improving the run rate. Malla scored 29 off 35 balls hitting a four and two sixes, while Airee struck three boundaries and a six in his 34-ball 33. When Airee was dismissed in the 28th over, Nepal needed four runs but they lost Sagar Pun (14) in the next ball and Sompal Kami faced three dot balls before Aarif Sheikh struck a boundary to complete the chase.

Meanwhile, the match between Hong Kong and Oman ended in a no result due to rain in the second innings. Oman were bowled out for 183 runs in 50 overs, while Hong Kong had reached 25-0 in five overs before rain disrupted the match. Likewise, the UAE bounced back from their humiliating loss against Hong Kong to register an eight-wicket victory over Malaysia. The hosts were all out for 92 runs in 31.3 overs and the UAE raced to 93-2 in 8.1 overs.

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