Nepal Looks for Winning Start

It looks like the Nepal-Sri Lanka match is largely about the pressure handling. Sri Lanka, the favorite for victory, cannot take Nepal lightly, for its giant killing history while for the tiny associate nation; this is probably the biggest opportunity this year to maintain the image.

The Penang Sports Club Ground will see, if Nepali youngsters perform well, a closely contested battle – and maybe an upset.

“Everything is perfect,” a seemingly confident Nepali captain Paras Khadka said ahead of the match. “We have trained well and are
looking forward to performing well.”

On Sunday, Nepal trained lightly at the University Sains Malaysia Ground. At the same venue, Sri Lanka had a full-fledged three-hour training session in the morning.

“We have to be at our best to beat Nepal,” Sri Lankan skipper Ashan Priyanjan said after the training.

Expectations are high after Nepal’s Plate Championship winning performance in 2006. Placed in a tough pool along with Australia, which hammered Namibia by 149 runs on Sunday, Sri Lanka and Namibia, Nepal must win at least two matches – including at least one against a Test nation, if it has to achieve its target: qualifying for the Super League.

Both team refused to express the pressure. “They (Sri Lankans) are under pressure,” Paras said. “They can not afford to lose to Nepal.”

“All this pressure is created by media,” Sri Lanka’s batting consultant Arvinda De Silva said. “Any team could be beaten by any other team on a given day; and there is nothing like underdogs and favorites. So, there is no question of extra pressure of not losing to a weaker team.”

The World Cup winning batsman is in Penang as the team’s cricket manager but is the de facto head of the Lankan backroom staff that includes a fitness trainer, a physiotherapist and even a computer analyst apart from the head coach, fielding coach and a selector.

Priyanjan said they had a balanced team. “We have two fast bowlers and two very good left-arm spinners to go with a couple of off-spinners. And we bat up to No 10,” Ashan said. The Sri Lankan captain will however miss the services of pacer Ishan Jayaratne, who is down with a back strain.

Nepal’s opener Amrit Bhattarai too did not train on Sunday due to swelling of tendons in the right ankle. The team management, however, said that he was rested for precautionary measures. “He will definitely play,” coach Roy Dias affirmed adding that he was satisfied with the performances in the practice matches. “The in-form batmen should go out and look to bat for 50 overs as we have a very good bowling attack backed by superb fielding.”

Both the teams look set to bat first tomorrow with Dias aiming to put more than 200 on board. “We will look to put around 240 batting first,” De Silva said.

“It will be a good contest,” he said adding that there will not be any sentiments regarding facing compatriot Dias’ team. “It will be a professional approach and friendship will remain off the field.”

PREM DHAKAL at Penang, Malaysia

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