Nepal has lost four semifinals in the last four years and every defeat has deprived Nepal of an opportunity to go higher in the world cricket. In 2005, Fiji defeated Nepal in the semifinal of the World Cup Qualifying Series Division II that ended Nepal’s hopes of playing in the main World Cup qualifiers.

Then it was the 2006 ACC Trophy semifinal loss against the UAE that deprived Nepal of playing the heavyweights of Asia – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, in the one-day international event called Asia Cup. And this year, Nepal lost to Afghanistan in the semifinal of the World Cricket League Division 5 in Jersey failing to get promoted for Division 4. Of late, it is the semifinal loss against the UAE in the semifinal of the ACC Trophy Elite that once again ended the hopes of playing in Asia Cup.

With that history, Nepal has been nicknamed chokers. In Nepal, people either believe we are unlucky or they say we have already got more success than we deserve so there should be no hope for more. The cliché is as it came to limelight, there will be politics.

Of course, there are numerous problems to step further than this in cricket. We lack many things, including the infrastructure and events. ‘What after cricket’ is a big issue with professionalism being a distant star. But the biggest of all shortcomings, it seems at this phase, is the vision to develop cricket among the cricket administrators.

Vice-captain Paras Khadka with captain Binod Das on the team’s arrival from Malaysia where Nepal managed fourth position. Photo: NepalSportsPhoto.com

Since the late 90s, when Nepal performed well in international events after getting associate membership of International Cricket Council (ICC), the world cup qualification has been a buzzword, even an aim. The aim is stranded; for sure it will not be fulfilled for 2011 edition, and the administrators are already expressing hopes for 2015.

But there are just hopes and dreams. Other than dreaming and hoping that the players, with their largely raw talents, will somehow perform magically to do that. There is neither plan nor any worked-out vision on how we are going to help the players achieve that.

For the association that struggles even to release the annual calendar of events, a detailed worked-out plan for five or ten years is surely an uphill task, especially when there are no professional people to do it.

Despite being the oldest sports association of the country, Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) is an unprofessionally-run body where the executive members are not only expected to work out plans and policies but also to take responsibility of managing lunch sets of players during events. CAN lacks professional officeholders, and it’s a sad aspect hindering the development of the game at the time when the sports is asking for professional approach and other nations quickly beginning to progress.

There has never been any election in CAN and the committees are always formed by the National Sports Council (NSC) – the government body that controls sports. For ad-hoc committees, the primary focus is more on making the NSC happy than anything else. Whenever a new committee is formed, they promise election at the earliest possible date, as the current committee did, and then they forget it.

And, the new committee always has to begin from scratch because there is neither paperwork of plans or policies, if any, nor any CAN staff know what the previous president and the general secretary were doing. Since 1998, when I began reporting cricket, CAN has been an association with the theme of ‘doing it as it comes’ rather than ‘planning it before it comes.’

Roy Dias – the Sri Lankan coach for the last eight years — also lacks plans for cricket development. Despite questions being raised about him lately, he has been inspirational, especially with age-group teams. When he is saying that he has no intention to extend his stay longer, we have suddenly realized that we should have prepared a Nepali coach under him who could have undertaken the caretaking jobs.

We could have given him one or two regular assistant coaches and, at times when we felt our team could have done better without Dias, we would have an opportunity to try Nepali coach. At least, in that way, we would have by now a coach well equipped to take charge of a team.

On the part of players, they have failed in crunch time and they need to realize that. It’s easy to blame that there has been nothing to gain by playing cricket; or that they have not been well paid but they can press more when you move ahead. And, the very simple yet harsh answer from CAN to those players should be that either they play or leave.

The biggest disadvantage of Nepali cricket at this time is it lacks the players’ base. Because of lack of plans and policies in the past, we continued playing the same 25-30 players in all international cricket, even age-groups, and never thought of shuffling players. Our national team is always the same – be it very important event or fun event. And now, there are just these players fit enough for national team.

I know it’s easy to point finger at others or show the problems but not easy to find solutions. But, at least for now, there is a very easy solution to get better in cricket and that is working out a detailed plan, something that they teach you the first thing to do after you set your aim.

As published in The Kathmandu Post on August 7.

Cricket.com.np Facebook & Twitter

For latest updates and information about cricket in Nepal,
visit out Facebook page (and Like it) and Twitter (and Follow it).

After the batting failure in the semifinal match against UAE on Friday, Nepal made 210/8 after electing to bat first and looked set for victory having reduced Afghanistan to 100/6 in 22.3 overs. But Shinwari added 59 runs for the seventh wicket with No 6 Mohammed Nabi (55 off 56) and unbeaten 54 runs with Ahmad Shah Ahmadi (26 off 27) as Afghanistan inflicted the third consecutive one-day defeat in as many matches on Nepal having defeated it at the same stage in the 2006 edition of the tournament and in the WCL Div 5 semifinal in Jersey earlier this year.

Paras Khadka provided double break for Nepal in the eighth over dismissing the Afghan openers Nowroz Mangal (20 off 22) and Shafiqulah Shafaq (27 off 23) off the second and fifth ball after Afghanistan made flying start to its run-chase adding 49 runs.

Shakti Gauchan then bowled No 4 Karim Sadiq for a duck two overs later and when Paras dismissed No 5 Asghar Stanikzai (16 off 22), and Raj Kumar Pradhan dismissed No 3 Noor ul Haq (7 of 33) and No 7 Raees Ahmadzai (4 off 13), Nepal looked set for a comfortable victory.

But Nabi continued to play aggressively and patient Shinwary played a perfect foil to thwart Nepal. Even when Sanjam Regmi dismissed Nabi after his fiery knock studded with four boundaries and two sixes, Nepal still looked favorite. But No 9 Ahmadi was allowed to play with freedom while Shinwari calmly accumulated the runs to guide Afghanistan home with 10 balls to spare as captain Binod Das failed to prize out the much-needed breakthrough.

Earlier, opener Kanishka Chaugain topscored with 43 and most of the other batsmen made useful contributions to take Nepal to 210. Opener Paresh Lohani made 26 off 39 balls with five fours as Nepal added 52 runs for the first wicket in 10.5 overs to vindicate the skipper’s decision to bat first.

Kanishka was the second batsman to fall at 87 in the 21st over after hitting seven fours in his 63-ball knock.

Sharad Vesawkar (19 off 47), Paras (22 off 29), Gyanendra Malla (21 off 22), Mehboob Alam (12 off 23) and Mahesh Chhetri (29 off 43) all got out after getting starts but Nepal still managed to put up a decent total with Binod making unbeaten 13 off 16 and Sanjam remaining not out on 12 off 15.

But the inability of dislodging the lower order batsmen ensured that Nepal lost the match pretty easily in the end.

Cricket.com.np Facebook & Twitter

For latest updates and information about cricket in Nepal,
visit out Facebook page (and Like it) and Twitter (and Follow it).

It was the same old story repeated once again, as Nepal lost the crucial ACC Trophy Elite semi-final against four-time champions UAE at the Selangor Turf Club of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Friday.

Electing to bat first, Nepal made paltry 166 – the score that UAE chased in 45.4 overs losing four wickets to qualify for the final against Hong Kong.

Nepal, nicknamed chokers for its continuous failures in important matches, not only lost the opportunity to play in the final for the second time but also missed qualification to 2010 Asia Cup.

It was fourth loss in crucial matches in last five years. The first in the string is Nepal’s shock defeat against Qatar in 2004 ACC Trophy quarterfinal that stopped the Himalayan nation from participating in World Cup Qualifying League. Then in the qualifier to WCQS, Nepal lost to Fiji in semi-final to miss the spot again.

In 2006 ACC Trophy, Nepal won all league matches but lost to UAE in the semi-final to miss out 2008 Asia Cup berth and then to Afghanistan to third-place playoff to miss out qualification to World Cricket League (WCL) Division 5. With the International Cricket Council (ICC) decision, Nepal played in WCL Div 5 but then missed out qualification to WCL Div 4 losing to Afghanistan in semi-final after winning all league matches.

On Friday, Nepali captain Binod Das won the toss and elected to bat first. It looked like good decision as Kaniskha Chaugai and Paresh Lohani put up 29-run partnership to give Nepal a good start. Kanishka was caught behind off Qasim Zubair and then UAE claimed wicket at regular intervals.

Paresh (24) went at 50 while Paras Khadka and Gyanendra Malla followed suit after putting Nepal at 75/4 in 20 overs. UAE captain Khurram Khan took two of these wickets. Sarad Vesawkar and Shakti Gauchan revived Nepal’s hope by partnering 49 runs before Sarad became Shadeep Silva’s second victim on 33.

Shakti stayed till he scored 35 and then it was all over quickly as Nepal lost last five wickets for 17 runs. Khurram added one more while Arshad Ali returned with two wickets.

Nepal’s hope of defending the paltry total was laid on early blows to UAE. It looked like happening when Mehboob Alam castled Mohd Iqbal’s stumps in seventh over when UAE had scored 20. But Arshad Ali (38) and Amjad Ali (30) played patiently to add 61 runs in 15 overs.

Three quick wickets, two by Sarad and one by Paras to bring UAE down to 100/4 from 81/1 gave little hopes which simmered down as Khurram and Rameez Shahzad scored the required runs without losing patience.

Man of the match Khurram remained unbeaten on 42 while Rameez, who hit Gyanendra for six to win the match, made 31 and their unbeaten partnership yielding 72 runs. Mainstay bowlers Binod, Sanjam Regmi, Shakti Gauchan and Basant Regmi all returned wicketless.

On Saturday, Nepal plays Afghanistan, who failed to chase Hong Kong’s 154, in the third-place playoff at the Bayuemas Oval.

Nepal Innings

Batsman	Fieldsman	Bowler	Runs	Bls	4s	6s
K Chaugai	c Amjad Ali	b Q Zubair	10	18	1	0
P Lohani	lbw	b K Khan	24	44	4	0
S Vesawkar		b S Silva	33	75	3	0
P Khadka	lbw	b K Khan	6	12	0	0
G Malla	c A Ali	b S Silva	7	11	1	0
SP Gauchan	run out		35	67	1	0
M Alam	c Amjad Ali	b M Tauqir	15	36	1	0
M Chhetri+	lbw	b A Ali	0	1	0	0
B Das*		b A Ali	3	7	0	0
B Regmi	not out		6	7	1	0
S Regmi	c Amjad Ali	b K Khan	1	10	0	0
extras		(b0 lb5 w18 nb3)	26
TOTAL		10 wickets for	166

FOW 1-29(K Chaugai) 2-50(P Lohani) 3-58(P Khadka) 4-75(G Malla) 5-124(S Vesawkar) 6-149(SP Gauchan) 7-150(M Chhetri) 8-159(B Das) 9-159(M Alam) 10-166(S Regmi)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Z Shah	7	1	26	0
Q Zubair	5	1	32	1
S Silva	10	2	22	2
K Khan	6.3	0	20	3
M Tauqir	10	1	28	1
R Khaliq	2	0	11	0
A Ali	7	0	22	2

UAE Innings

Batsman	Fieldsman	Bowler	Runs	Bls	4s	6s
M Iqbal		b M Alam	13	23	2	0
A Ali		b P Khadka	38	67	6	0
Amjad Ali+	lbw	b S Vesawkar	30	68	4	0
S Ali	c P Lohani	b S Vesawkar	3	18	0	0
K Khan*	not out		42	56	4	0
R Shahzad	not out		31	47	2	1
extras		(b4 lb2 w9 nb0)	15
TOTAL		4 wickets for	172

FOW 1-20(M Iqbal) 2-81(A Ali) 3-91(Amjad Ali) 4-100(S Ali)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
M Alam	7	1	24	1
B Das	6	1	27	0
S Regmi	10	2	17	0
SP Gauchan	5	1	16	0
B Regmi	5	0	18	0
P Khadka	5	0	17	1
S Vesawkar	6	0	34	2
G Malla	1.4	0	13	0

PHOTO COURTESY: Peter Lim/Asian cricket Council

Cricket.com.np Facebook & Twitter

For latest updates and information about cricket in Nepal,
visit out Facebook page (and Like it) and Twitter (and Follow it).

Group A Standing

Group B Standing

Semifinal Matchup

August 1: Nepal vs UAE at Selangor Turf Club
Afghanistan vs Hong Kong at Kinrara Oval

Playoffs Matchup

August 1: Fifth-Place Playoff

Singapore vs Malaysia at Bayemas Oval

August 2: Playoffs

7th-Place Playoff – Kuwait vs Bahrain at Selangor Turf Club
9th-Place Playoff – Qatar vs Saudi Arabia at Royal Military College

Third-place playoff will take place on August 2 while the final is slated for August 3.

Cricket.com.np Facebook & Twitter

For latest updates and information about cricket in Nepal,
visit out Facebook page (and Like it) and Twitter (and Follow it).

Nepal was playing to become the Group B leader. With the fourth win in as many matches, Nepal is atop Group B ahead of Hong Kong. From Group A, Afghanistan and UAE qualified to the semifinals and the semifinal matchup is identical to that of 2006 with Nepal playing UAE.

Nepal’s chase for Kuwait’s paltry 103 began with its best opening stand in the event with Kanishka Chaugai and Mehboob Alam adding 20 runs in 10 overs. But Mehboob (7) went soon and Dipendra Chaudhary (3) could make any impact playing his first match of the tour.

Kanishka once again got a start scoring 19 but then was trapped leg-before by Javed Mohammad who finished with two wickets. Sarad Vesawkar and Paras Khadka added unbeaten 50 runs for fourth wicket to take Nepal to victory in 29 overs. Sarad scored 28 runs in 80 balls with a four while Nepal’s leading scorer in the event vice-captain Paras Khadka got 26 off 41 with a boundary.

Earlier, Kuwait never recovered after early blow of Mehboob Alam who took three wickets in the opening spell to down the gulf country to 17/3. Spinners Shakti Gauchan, Raj Kumar Pradhan and Sanjam Regmi were unplayable at the condition. Shakti picked up three wickets giving away five runs while Sanjam gave away two runs in his six overs.

Captain Binod Das picked up two wickets in successive balls in the tenth over. Mehboob too was on hat-trick on third over but could not get the prize third ball wicket. Paras and Raj Kumar picked a wicket each.

For Kuwait, Mohd Murad (19), Saud Qamar (18), captain Hasim Mirza (16) and Abdul Rehman Liaqat (15) made some handy contributions to a paltry total. Kuwait finished fourth in Group B ahead of Qatar and will play Bahrain for seventh place playoff on Thursday.

Kuwait Innings

Batsman	Fieldsman	Bowler	Runs	Bls	4s	6s
J Roshamtha+		b M Alam	11	14	2	0
N Malik	c D Chaudhary	b M Alam	2	9	0	0
M Hasan	lbw	b M Alam	0	1	0	0
S Qamar	lbw	b SP Gauchan	18	47	3	0
M Mohammed		b B Das	19	17	3	1
S Raza	c SP Gauchan	b B Das	0	1	0	0
H Mirza*		b P Khadka	16	23	3	0
AR Liaqat	c B Das	b RK Pradhan	15	63	1	0
A Mohammed		b SP Gauchan	1	6	0	0
J Mohammed	lbw	b SP Gauchan	0	2	0	0
S Khalid	not out		7	46	1	0
extras		(b0 lb5 w9 nb0)	14
TOTAL		10 wickets for	103

FOW 1-5(N Malik) 2-6(M Hasan) 3-17(J Roshamtha) 4-48(M Mohammed) 5-48(S Raza )6-76(H Mirza) 7-76(S Qamar) 8-78(A Mohammed) 9-78(J Mohammed) 10-103(AR Liaqat)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
M Alam	10	1	34	3
B Das	9	0	37	2
P Khadka	3	0	18	1
SP Gauchan	8	4	5	3
S Regmi	6	4	2	0
RK Pradhan	2.1	0	7	1

Nepal Innings

Batsman	Fieldsman	Bowler	Runs	Bls	4s	6s
K Chaugai	lbw	b J Mohammed	19	31	3	0
M Alam	lbw	b A Mohammed	6	7	1	0
S Vesawkar	not out		28	80	1	0
D Chaudhary		b J Mohammed	3	14	0	0
P Khadka	not out		26	43	1	0
extras		(b0 lb7 w14 nb1)	22
TOTAL		3 wickets for	104

FOW 1-20(M Alam) 2-48(K Chaugai) 3-54(D Chaudhary)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
A Mohammed	4	0	12	1
M Mohammed	1	0	12	0
J Mohammed	10	0	18	2
S Raza	10	1	39	0
H Mirza	3	0	12	0
S Qamar	1	0	4	0

Cricket.com.np Facebook & Twitter

For latest updates and information about cricket in Nepal,
visit out Facebook page (and Like it) and Twitter (and Follow it).

Nepal’s qualification was confirmed after Qatar beat Kuwait by 24 runs. With the loss, Kuwait chances’ of gaining three wins faded away and now it’s only Hong Kong that can have three wins in four matches while Nepal has won all three matches.

UAE qualified after beating hosts Malaysia by 57 runs – their third win since losing to Saudi Arabia in the first match. From their group, Afghanistan has almost ensured it’s place in the semifinal with two wins from three matches. They have a very good run-rate that if they defeat Bahrain on Wednesday, they will proceed at the group leader while UAE will be runners-up.

Even if Afghanistan loses, they can proceed on better run rate.

In Group B, Hong Kong is likely qualifier. They have a match against Singapore winning which they can qualify without any hassle. If they lose, they can still qualify on run-rate.

Cricket.com.np Facebook & Twitter

For latest updates and information about cricket in Nepal,
visit out Facebook page (and Like it) and Twitter (and Follow it).

Vice-captain Paras Khadka scored unbeaten 71 and partnered Shakti Gauchan for unbeaten 62 runs to take Nepal to a convincing victory in 40.5 overs chasing Singapore’s total of 155/9.

Paras’ second half-century in three innings came at a time when Nepal looked in trouble once again while chasing with three wickets gone for 39. Paresh Lohani (3) survived just eight balls while Kanishka Chaugain again got a start but could not convert that into a big score as he too was bowled by Pramodh Raja for 16. Sharad Vesawkar survived when he was on zero when wicket-keeper Vivek Vedagiri failed to collect an outside edge but could not stay long as he was bowled by Muhammad Ali for nine on a wicket that had cracks on it.

Paras shared a valuable 55-run stand with Gyanendra Malla (17) who gifted his wicket unnecessarily trying to be aggressive. Shakti and Paras then completed the remaining job without much trouble from the Singaporean bowlers.

Earlier, Singapore never looked to be in control after electing to bat first. It immediately looked a bad decision when it lost Glenn Meyer off the second ball bowled by Mehboob Alam. Muhammad Ali also fell victim to Mehboob while Chetan Suryawanshi tried to stabilize the innings with 32. He was the third victim of Mehboob as Singapore was reduced to 56/3.

Captain Chaminda Ruwan topscored with 40 off 83 balls but disciplined bowling put brakes on the run rate. Singapore then reached 155/9 in 50 overs with some handy contributions from tailenders. In other matches of the day, Hong Kong defeated Qatar by 176 runs while UAE beat Bahrain by eight wickets. Nepal plays Kuwait on Wednesday.

Battle for semifinals

The third win in as many matches has not ensured Nepal’s qualification to the semifinals. Nepal leads the five-team Group ‘B’ with six points, but a series of unfavorable results can end its semifinal hopes.

Hong Kong, with two wins from three matches, plays Singapore on Wednesday while Kuwait, with a win from two matches, still have games against Qatar and Nepal. If Hong Kong beats Singapore and Kuwait wins both games with big margins, Nepal can be out of contention. But this seems unlikely.

If Qatar defeats Kuwait Tuesday, Nepal will qualify as group winner.

Singapore Innings

Nepal Innings

PHOTO: Peter Lim/Asian Cricket Council

Cricket.com.np Facebook & Twitter

For latest updates and information about cricket in Nepal,
visit out Facebook page (and Like it) and Twitter (and Follow it).

Gyanendra Malla and Sarad Vesawkar shared a record partnership as Nepal registered it’s second win in as many days beating Qatar by seven wickets at the Royal Military College Ground of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in the ACC Trophy Elite 2008.

The pair partnered for unbeaten 126 to take Nepal home in the 38th over while chasing Qatar’s 171 all out in 47.2 overs.

The 126-run partnership is the highest for Nepal for any wicket. Previous best was 125 scored twice in 2003 against Maldives in space of two days – first by Mehboob Alam and Paresh Lohani and next one by Raju Khadka and Binod Das.

Gyanendra scored 76 off 84 balls with five fours and two sixes – it was his sixth half-century for the national team which is the most by any Nepali player. Sarad got 51 off 104 balls with three fours – his second for national team. He had scored 48 a day earlier against Hong Kong.

Beside the pair, Kanishka Chaugai got his first international runs since his return from US scoring 20 off 33 balls while Paresh Lohani (4) and Paras Khadka (3) failed. Paresh had scored 42 and Paras a match winning 81 against Hong Kong. For Qatar, Abbas Khan took two wickets for 40 runs off his 10 overs while Usman Malik got one.

Earlier, Qatar won the toss and elected to bat first. They had a slow but steady opening with captain Omer Taj and Mohd Jehangir added 46 for the opening stand in 15 overs before Binod Das claimed two wickets to undone Jehangir (13) and Faisal Noor (7). The run-rate slowed down and Omer stayed till 25th over before being bowled out by Basant Regmi for 48. His knock lasted 77 balls in which he hit five fours and two sixes.

Then it was Shakti and Basant who had the say in the ground as they shared five more wickets as Qatar struggled to score. Wicket-keeper Rushrat Ali made unbeaten 40 in 54 balls with two sixes while last man Usman Malik contributed handy 15 as the gulf nation got moderate total of 171. Basant gave away 30 runs for three wickets as Sarad and Amrit Bhattarai took a wicket apiece.

Nepal plays Singapore on Monday.

SCORECARD

Qatar Innings

 

FOW 1-46(M Jehangir) 2-53(F Noor) 3-89(O Taj) 4-90(T Sajjad) 5-98(A Packer) 6-100(S Akhtar) 7-122(I Mirza) 8-143(A Khan) 9-154(S Badshah) 10-171(U Malik)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
M Alam	4	1	18	0
B Das	7	2	24	2
A Bhattarai	6.2	0	31	1
P Khadka	6	0	14	0
B Regmi	9	1	30	3
SP Gauchan	10	3	25	3
S Vesawkar	5	0	24	1

Nepal Innings

 

FOW 1-4(P Lohani) 2-36(K Chaugai) 3-46(P Khadka)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
A Khan	10	0	40	2
U Malik	9.3	1	31	1
P Anwaruddin	6	0	23	0
S Akhtar	4	0	20	0
S Badshah	2	0	8	0
R Ali	4	0	23	0
T Sajjad	1	0	16	0
I Mirza	1	0	9	0

Cricket.com.np Facebook & Twitter

For latest updates and information about cricket in Nepal,
visit out Facebook page (and Like it) and Twitter (and Follow it).

Nepal’s ACC Trophy Elite 2008 campaign began in grand style as it beats Hong Kong by 44 runs at the Selangor Turf Club, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Friday.

Choosing to bat on the damp conditions, Nepal scored 245/7 in 50 overs with Paras Khadka topscoring with 81. Hong Kong’s run-chase was restricted to 201/9 with Binod Das and Basant Regmi each picking up three wickets.

Kanishka Chaugai was undone in the first over by a low keeping delivery but Paresh and Sarad ensured that the national team did not suffer from the loss with 96-run partnership. The very next over by Zain Abbas yielded 20 runs, and there was no stopping to the pair who also took advantage of two dropped catches.

Sarad scored 48 off 73 balls with nine boundaries before being stumped on a beautiful delivery by Nadeem Ahmed. Paresh, who got 42 off 75 balls with five fours and a six, was trapped lbw three balls later by Moner Ahmed as Nepal went down to 97/3 in 25 overs.

It was then time for u-19 captain Paras to show his heroics. He began cautiously but once he got going, he built his innings with power-hitting. Paras scored 81 off 72 balls with eight fours and three sixes, and was out in 48th over. Gyanendra Malla (23) shared 51-run fifth wicket partnership with Paras and Mehboob Alam (20) made a handy contribution.

In the second innings, captain Binod found edge of his counterpart Tabarak Dar’s bat before Nadeem, who opened for national team for the first time, had some beautiful drives to accelerate last year’s finalist to scoring rate to near six. But he scooped a cut to Paras at point of Mehboob to end his innings of 23 runs off 21 balls.

Six balls later, Binod had James Atkinson (8) caught behind by Mahesh Chhetri to make it 35/3 in seven overs. Then after, Hong Kong tried to build partnership but was wrecked by regular wicket fall.
Butt Hussain, who took 16 balls to open scoring, got 52 off 123 balls. He hit his third six to reach 50 but Basant Regmi got him next ball. Basant finished with 3/41 while Binod returned with figure of 3/57. Man of the match Paras and Mehboob each took a wicket.

“It was good performance all together,” Nepal’s manager and former national captain Pawan Agrawal said. “Paras showed his mental toughness throughout his innings.” Agrawal believed there were a few areas for improvement.

In other matches of the ACC Trophy Elite, four-time champion lost to Saudi Arabia by 29 runs – their first loss in the event since 2000 while hosts Malaysia beat Bahrain by 33 runs. Singapore beat Qatar by 35 runs. Nepal plays Qatar at the Royal Military Ground on Saturday.

Nepal Innings

Batsman	Fieldsman	Bowler	Runs	Bls	4s	6s
P Lohani	lbw	b M Ahmed	42	75	5	1
K Chaugai		b I Ahmad	0	2	0	0
S Vesawkar	st J Atkinson	b N Ahmed	48	73	9	0
P Khadka	c MI Gull	b Z Abbas	81	72	8	3
M Alam	c KH Butt	b M Ahmed	20	28	2	0
G Malla	c N Ahmed	b MI Gull	23	31	2	0
B Regmi	c N Ahmed	b MI Gull	9	10	1	0
SP Gauchan	not out		12	8	1	0
M Chhetri+	not out		2	2	0	0
extras		(b1 lb1 w4 nb2)	8
TOTAL		7 wickets for	245

FOW 1-1(K Chaugai) 2-97(S Vesawkar) 3-97(P Lohani) 4-135(M Alam) 5-186(G Malla) 6-230(P Khadka) 7-233(B Regmi)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
I Ahmad	9	2	36	1
Z Ali	3	0	30	0
N Amar	10	2	38	0
N Ahmed	10	1	37	1
M Ahmed	10	1	48	2
MI Gull	6	0	31	2
Z Abbas	2	0	23	1

Hong Kong Innings

Batsman	Fieldsman	Bowler	Runs	Bls	4s	6s
N Ahmed	c P Khadka	b M Alam	32	12	5	0
T Dar*	c M Chhetri	b B Das	0	2	0	0
J Atkinson+	c M Chhetri	b B Das	8	14	1	0
KH Butt	st M Chhetri	b B Regmi	52	123	1	3
N Amar	lbw	b P Khadka	11	27	1	1
Z Abbas	c M Chhetri	b B Das	13	40	1	0
I Ahmad		b B Regmi	15	19	0	1
M Ahmed	run out K Chaugai/M Chhe.		20	13	1	1
A Sultanat	not out		7	16	0	0
MI Gull	st M Chhetri	b B Regmi	25	34	3	1
Z Ali	not out		2	1	0	0
extras		(b1 lb8 w7 nb0)	16
TOTAL		9 wickets for	201

FOW 1-8(T Dar) 2-30(N Ahmed) 3-35(J Atkinson) 4-64(N Amar) 5-100(Z Abbas) 6-129(I Ahmad) 7-152(M Ahmed) 8-163(KH Butt) 9-199(MI Gull)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
M Alam	7	3	15	1
B Das	9	1	57	3
P Khadka	8	1	26	1
SP Gauchan	8	2	26	0
B Regmi	10	1	41	3
RK Pradhan	8	2	27	0

Photo Courtesy: Asian Cricket Council

Cricket.com.np Facebook & Twitter

For latest updates and information about cricket in Nepal,
visit out Facebook page (and Like it) and Twitter (and Follow it).

This time at stake is the qualification to Asia Cup for which Nepal needs to reach the final of the ACC Elite Cup in Malaysia beginning on July 25. The two teams contesting in August 3 final will also play next Asia Cup alongside Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

“This is an opportunity we should not miss,” Binaya Raj Pandey, president of Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), said. “This is also only remaining opportunity to play against Test nations,” he added referring to the semifinal loss against Afghanistan in the World Cricket League Division 5 in Jersey.

Nepal’s loss against Afghanistan in the semifinal after series of easy win in Jersey was a chapter adding to the book of major failure. The jinx began in the ACC Trophy 2004, when Nepal lost to Qatar in quarterfinals to miss out a chance to qualify for the World Cup 2007 qualifiers.

Then it lost to Fiji by three runs in the semifinal of the World Cricket Qualifying Series Division II to miss out the World Cup 2007 qualifiers again. In ACC Trophy 2006, Nepal’s semifinal loss against UAE ended hopes to play in Asia Cup.

In the third-place playoff, the team lost to Afghanistan to qualify for WCL Div 5. An International Cricket Council (ICC) decision to put Nepal in Div 5 took the team to Jersey but the jinx continued.

But reaching the final will not be easy. “It’s going to be tough,” coach Roy Dias who is seriously thinking of ending his seven-year association with Nepal said. “We can not just go, play and come back; our players need to realize that this is our last opportunity.”

Dias, who said it would be his last tour with the senior side, seemed happy with the team though not having much change. “No youngster is coming up because there has been no cricket for them,” he said. “But I am happy with the team with an extra batsman.”

The only change in the team is Kaniska Chaugai, the U-19 captain who led Nepal to plate championship win in Youth World Cup in 2006 before moving to USA to pursue his education. He returned on his holiday, joined the closed-camp training, and was selected.

“We all know how important this tournament is for us and our cricket,” captain Binod Das said. “We assure you all that we will give our best to reach the final.”

The team flew to Sri Lanka on Tuesday where it will train for a week and play three practice matches against local teams on July 17, 18 and 21 before flying to Malaysia on July 23. For the ACC Elite Cup, Nepal will play Hong Kong (July 25), Qatar (July 26), Singapore (July 28) and Kuwait (July 30) in its league matches of Group B.

Nepali Squad: Binod Das (captain), Paras Khadka (vice-captain), Shakti Gauchan, Mehboob Alam, Basant Regmi, Sanjam Regmi, Amrit Bhattarai, Raj Kumar Pradhan, Dipendra Chaudhary, Kanishka Chaugai, Paresh Lohani, Gyanendra Malla, Sarad Vesawkar and Mahesh Chhetri. Officials: Roy Dias (coach), Samson Thapa (assistant coach) and Pawan Agrawal (manager).

Cricket.com.np Facebook & Twitter

For latest updates and information about cricket in Nepal,
visit out Facebook page (and Like it) and Twitter (and Follow it).