Arch rivals Nepal and Afghanistan will be looking to pull out all stops when they face each other on Thursday in their last group stage match of the ICC World T20 at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Both the sides have slim chances of progressing to the next round. Even a win on Thursday will not be sufficient for either of the teams to guarantee their place in the Super 10 round. Their fate also hinges on the outcome of the fixture between Bangladesh and Hong Kong. But victory over Afghanistan would be a big achievement for Nepal, which has never defeated the Afghans since 2004.
Nepal’s coach Pubudu Dassanayake hinted that his side’s challenge for the next round was over. “We are not in a position to control whatever happens. We just want to win the match and finish with four points,” Dassanayake said. “We will try to achieve a good run rate. The only chance for us is if Bangladesh loses to Hong Kong. We are looking forward to the Afghanistan match. We have our plans and we want to go and execute them.”
Host Bangladesh, the only Test-playing side in Group A, has strong chances of advancing into the next round, as it has maintained perfect record with convincing wins in both its previous matches. The group winner from each of the two groups will qualify for the Super 10 stage.
Nepal and Afghanistan’s entry into the next round will largely depend on the outcome of the match between Bangladesh and Hong Kong on Thursday. A Bangladesh victory will send both Nepal and Afghanistan packing from the group stage irrespective of the result of their match.
Both Nepal and Afghanistan lost to Bangladesh and won against Hong Kong. Nepal defeated Hong Kong by 80 runs in its opening match of the World T20 and suffered an eight-wicket defeat at the hands of Bangladesh on Tuesday.
Similarly, Afghanistan suffered a nine-wicket defeat against the home team in the curtain-raiser and beat Hong Kong by seven wickets on Tuesday.
Bangladesh leads the Group A standings with four points. Nepal and Afghanistan are in second and third places with two points each. Nepal is ahead on the basis of better run rate. Bottom-place Hong Kong has already crashed out from the World Cup with a match in hand following two consecutive defeats.
If past records are taken into account, Afghanistan holds superiority over Nepal. Nepal has defeated Afghanistan only once, in the latter’s first international appearance during the ACC Trophy in 2004. Since then, it has been one way traffic for Afghanistan in both T20 or 50-over format.
The last time these two sides met was during the World T20 Qualifiers in the UAE in November 2013. Then, Afghanistan registered convincing victories against Nepal in the group match as well as the semifinal.
In 2013, Afghanistan won 26 of the 28 matches against Associate and Affiliate nations, apart from Ireland. This is Afghanistan’s third consecutive appearance in the ICC World T20 following its debut in 2010. In the 2012 edition, Afghans to India lost by 23 runs.
Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi is confident that his side will continue its dominance over Nepal. “We have been beating Nepal in the past and we won’t have any difficulty playing against Associate teams.”
“We know each other very well as we have played numerous times in the past,” said Sharad Vesawkar, who scored 40 runs against Bangladesh on Tuesday. “We have friendly relations with each other and we are aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses.”
Sharad, skipper Paras Khadka, Shakti Gauchan, Subash Khakurel, Basanta Regmi, Jeetendra Mukhiya and Gyanendra Malla were rested during Thursday’s training session. A lot will depend on the batting of Sharad, Paras, Gyanendra and opener Subash if Nepal is to beat the Afghans on Thursday.
Nepal’s bowling hopes will rest on left-arm spinners Shakti Gauchan and Basanta Regmi on the grassy pitch. Both of them earned three wickets each in Nepal’s historic win over Hong Kong.