National Team scored 193/9 in 40 overs – thanks to Shakti Gauchan’s 82 after Paras Khadka chose to bat first. In reply, U-21 Team was bowled out for 103 in 30 overs.

The highlights of National Team’s innings were Shakti’s knock and Chandra Saud’s bowling figure. While Shakti made 82 off 116 balls with five boundaries and featured in a 60-run partnership with Dipendra Chaudhary, Chandra took 5/49.

Dipendra scored 29 off 39 balls while other contribution came from Sharad Vesawkar (18), Paras (14) and Sagar Pun (12). U-21 Team also gave away 23 extras – 13 alone by Chandra.

Chandra grabbed top three and bottom two batsmen while Anil Mandal took two for 30 and Pradeep Airee took a wicket.

U-21 began badly losing top three men early. From 23/3, captain Gyanendra Malla and Prithu Baskota stabilized the innings with 52-run partnership before Prithu was out for 13. The lower order failed against spinners as the remaining six wickets fell for 28 runs in 10 overs.

Gyanendra scored 41 off 55 with four boundaries and a six.

Off spinner Sanjam Regmi took 3/10 while Rahul Kumar BK (2/7), Basanta Regmi (2/18) and Binod Das (2/16) were other wicket takers.

The National Team is training for the ICC World Cricket League Division 5 while U-21 Team is training for the South Asian Games.

CAN named 18-member squad for the closed-camp training and Vesawkar is the only name missing from the national team ranked fifth in the ACC Twenty20 Elite Cup in UAE last month.

Sharad played three out of six matches in the T20 but scored only 11 runs.

Also failing to make to the squad are Ajay Rajbanshi and Chandra Sawad who were in 18-member squad for the T20. Their absence made inroads to U-15 captain Prithu Baskota, Subash Khakurel and Dhirendra Chand.

This is the first time Prithu and Subash are named in the national squad. Binod Bhandari and Naresh Budair, who had impressive debut event in T20, were continued.

Paras Khadka and Gyanendra Malla continue as the captain and vice-captain respectively while former captains Binod Das, who recently became a father, and Paresh Lohani are included in the team.

Other members of the team include Dipendra Chaudhary, Shakti Gauchan, Mehboob Alam, Basant Regmi, Mahesh Chhetri, Naresh Budair, Binod Bhandari, Sanjam Regmi, Amrit Bhattarai, Rahul BK, Subash Khakurel, Prithu Baskota, Dhirendra Chand and Anil Mandal.

The WCL Div 5 begins on February 22. A joint training camp for the WCL Div 5 and South Asian Games will begin on December 30.

After the bowlers bowled brilliantly to restrict Afghanistan to 142 in 49.3 overs, Nepali batsmen batted miserably to end Nepal’s remote chances of qualifying for the 2011 World Cup.

Afghanistan, which had also dumped Nepal out of the inaugural T20 Asia Cup held in Kuwait in October last year, and the other finalist Jersey will now join Hong Kong, Fiji, Tanzania and Italy in the six-nation ICC WCL Division 4 to be held at the Tanzanian capital of Dar Es Salaam from 4 to 11 October to pursue their World Cup dreams.

Allrounder Mehboob Alam topscored with 17 off 37 coming in at No 7 but the damage was already done at the top with opening bowler Dawlat Ahmadzai taking three wickets to reduce Nepal to 55/6.

It all started with the second ball dismissal of opener Paresh Lohani (0 off 2) followed by the wicket of No 3 Sharad Vesawkar (3 off as Nepal wobbled to 12/2 in 3.5 overs. Opener Mahesh Chhetri (9 off 66) and Shakti Gauchan (9 off 57) then batted painstakingly slow adding just 25 runs in 91 balls to allow the Afghan bowlers to take control of the match.

Gyanendra Malla (11 off 34), skipper Binod Das (12 off 32) and Basanta Regmi (10 off 16) were the only other

batsmen apart from Alam to reach double figures as Paras Khadka (1 off 9), Sanjam Regmi (5* off 13) and Raj Kumar Pradhan failed to provide the impetus. Gul Abed, Hamid Hassan and Nabi Eisakhil took two wickets each for the winning side.

Earlier, M Nabi Eisakhil scored 48 runs off 64 balls to guide Afghanistan to the total after Nepali bowlers took stranglehold of the Afghan innings. Left arm spinners Shakti Gauchan and Basanta snared three wickets but the brakes were put on by the new ball pair of skipper Binod Das and Mehbob Alam.

Das took 2/22 in eight overs while Alam got 1/13 in eight to reduce Afghanistan to 29/3 after it was 26 for no loss after electing to bat. Shakti then continued to suffocate the Afghans giving away just 12 in eight overs while Basanta helped himself with late wickets to return figures of 3/30 in 8.3 overs as Afghanistan was bowled out in 49.3 overs. Leg spinner Raj Kumar Pradhan took 1/30 in eight overs.

Opener Mahesh Chhetri made 65 as Nepal made 220/9 in 46 overs in the rain-curtailed match and Nepal then bowled out Vanuatu for 83 runs. Nepal plays USA at Les Quennevais 1 ground Wednesday to decide the group winner.

Chhetri played a patient innings of 65 from 112 balls while Mehboob Alam made attacking 34 off 19 coming in at No 5 to lay the foundation for a commanding total after Nepal was sent in to bat first. Opener Paresh Lohani made 28 off 34 while No 3 Sharad Vesawkar made 20 off 46.

Basanta Regmi made unbeaten 19 off 22 while Gyanendra Malla (12 off 17) and Paras Khadka (11 0ff 6) also made useful contributions. M Nimoho took 3/53 for Vanuatu.

Chasing a formidable target for victory, Vanuatu never looked to be going for victory and was behind the required rate right from the beginning.

Left arm spinner Basanta Regmi took two wickets for Nepal while Mehboob, Paras, Binod Das, Dhirendra Chand and Sanjam Regmi took one each while one batsman was run out.

He made a patient fifty to help Nepal to a competitive total of 204 after being sent in to bat and then took two wickets to bowl Norway out for 96 to fashion a comfortable win.

Nepal was struggling at 73/5 losing Paresh Lohani (4), Sharad Vesawkar (5), Mahesh Chhetri (15), Shakti Gauchan (15) and Gyanendra Malla (13). But the normally flamboyant Alam played a relatively restrained innings of 51 off 73 hitting four boundaries and featured in two 40-run partnerships to rescue Nepal.

He first partnered Paras Khadka, who made 23 0ff 32 with fours, for the fourth wicket and then added another 40 runs with skipper Binod Das for the eighth wicket. Das made 32 off 53 and was the last man out in 49.4 overs going for a big hit.

The skipper also stitched two crucial partnerships of 17 runs with Dhirendra Chand (12) and 19 runs with last man Sanjam Regmi (7*) to take Nepal beyond 200 runs.

Zeeshan Ali and Majid Zia Butt took three wickets each for Norway.

In reply, Norway played slowly and never looked in contention. Seamers Paras Khadka and Dhirendra Chand, and spinner Basanta Regmi also took two wickets each to bowl Norway out in 46.4 overs.

Ahmed Bhatti and Abdul Hadi made 15 runs each for Norway. Nepal faces Vanuatu at the Victoria College ground in its fourth league match on Tuesday.

Nepali left-arm seamer Mehboob Alam proved this age-old cliché to the delight of the millions of Nepalis on Sunday. After rain robbed Nepal of certain victory against Mozambique in its second group match of World Cricket League Division 5 tournament at the Grainville Ground in Jersey on Saturday, Alam made history by taking all 10 Mozambique wickets in the replay match today.

Nepal had bowled out Mozambique for 70 runs in 28.5 overs, but rain intervened when Nepal had scored just two runs off the first ball in reply, forcing a replay for today. However, this came as divine intervention for Nepal. Alam became the third bowler in international cricket to take all 10 wickets in an innings.

English off-spinner Jim Laker was the first taking 10/53 in the second innings of the fourth Ashes Test against Australia at Old Trafford in 1956, while Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble emulated him by taking 10/74 in the second innings of Kotla Test against Pakistan in 1999.

However, in limited over cricket, Alam is the first bowler to take all 10 in the ICC sanctioned matches.

“I am very delighted at the unexpected return, even though the wickets were more suitable for me here. I produced a lot of swing and kept bowling a tight line and length. I am so delighted I made Nepal proud,” Alam told NepalCricket.com on IM.

He was accuracy personified as five of his victims were bowled, four were trapped lbw and the other edged to wicket-keeper Mahesh Chhetri. Such was his dominance that Mozambique was bowled out for 19 — arguably the lowest score in any form of international cricket — in just 14.5 overs chasing Nepal’s score of 238/7.

New Zealand’s total of 26 in 27 overs in the second innings of the Auckland Test on March 25, 1955, is the lowest ever team score in Test cricket while Zimbabwe’s total of 35 in 18 overs against Sri Lanka in Harare on April 25, 2004 is the lowest in ODIs.

He returned figures of 7.5-1-12-10 for the best ever return in international cricket.

“No, I never dreamt of getting 10 wickets and I am very enthusiastic about our upcoming matches against Norway and USA,” he said when asked if he ever dreamt of getting 10 wickets in a match.

All rounder Alam had earlier shone with the bat as well hammering 23 off just 13 balls as Nepal made 238/7 in the allotted 50 overs. The total was built around middle-order batsman Gyanendra Malla’s majestic 71. Malla added 73 runs with Shakti Gauchan (34 off 66) for the fourth wicket and 80 runs with Paras Khadka (44 off 50) for the fifth wicket to put Nepal back on track after it wobbled at 30/3 in 10.5 overs losing Paresh Lohani (9 off 26), Mahesh Chhetri (16 off 29) and Sharad Vesawkar (1 off 7).

Nepal faces Norway at the Farmers Field ground in its third match on Monday.

I.I.M.IKHERIYA c Gauchan b Das 13 (14,10,2,0)
N.G.KARIM c Lohani d Das 6 (30,21,1,0)
M.Z.SIDAT c Chhetri b Das 6 (46,28,0,0)
M.K.QADIR c Chhettri b Das 2 (13,11,0,0)
S.K.R.SHAH c Lohani b Das 4 (26,22,0,0)
J.M.KHORAWA+ lbw B.Regmi 6 (39,31,0,0)
Z.A.GULAM c Gauchan b B.Regmi 6 (39,19,1,0)
M.S.YOUNG* lbw B.Regmi 0 (1,1,0,0)
C.S.C.PUSPUSSEN c Gauchan b B.Regmi 4 (22,14,0,0)
M.A.A.KOLIYA not out 11 (16,14,1,1)
I.S.LIU lbw B.Regmi 0 (2,2,0,0)
Extras (5 LB, 7W) 12
Total 70 (all out) (28.5 overs)

17-1 (1), 21-2 (2), 24-3 (4), 34-4 (3), 35-5 (5), 53-6 (6), 53-7(8), 57-8 (7), 70-9 (9), 70-10 (11)

M.ALAM 5-1-21-0
B.K.DAS 10-2-16-5 (5w)
P.KHADKA 6-1-13-0 (2w)
B.REGMI 5.5-2-8-5
R.K.PRADHAN 1-0-7-0
S.P.GAUCHAN 1-1-0-0

Nepal Innings

P.P.LOHANI not out 2 (1,1,0,0)
M.ALAM not out 0 (1,0,0,0)

DNB: B.K.DAS*, M.K.CHHETRI+, P.KHADKA, S.P.GAUCHAN, S.REGMI, S.VESAWKAR, G.MALLA, R.K.PRADHAN, B.REGMI
Extras 0
Total 2-0 (0.1 overs)

M.A.A.KOLIYA 0.1-0-2-0

Their efforts wrecked German innings as they were bowled out for 69 in 39.4 overs and achieved the target in 20.2 overs with Mahesh Chhetri remaining unbeaten on 23. Man of the match Basant finished with an impressive figure of 5.5-4-4-3 while Mehboob, who bowled his 10 overs in a spell, got three wickets for 24 runs.

It was first time after 2001 ICC Trophy that the two country faced each other. Nepal had defeated Germany by two runs in the earlier meeting, but this time they proved strong enough to bowl out them for the lowest total of the opening day.

Germany won the toss and elected to bat first. With Mehboob firing and captain Binod Das bowling tight line, they were under pressure immediately. Binod got a wicket in the first over and within 10 overs, it looked like a lop-sided match.

“We probably lost the match in first 10 overs, they bowled very well,” German captain Grammar Sommer said. Asif Khan topscored for them with 22 runs.

Once spinners came into action, it was more difficult for the European side to get runs. Shakti Guachan bowled seven overs giving away six runs for a wicket while Raj Kumar Pradhan gave 11 runs for a wicket in three overs.

Nepal’s batting was not on par to the bowling as Paresh Lohani failed to open account. Sharad Vesawkar (12) and Shakti Gauchan (11) got each got start but failed to stay long. It was opener Mahesh Chhetri, whose 23 in 54 balls, pushed Nepal to victory. Gyanendra Malla remained unbeaten on three runs.

“I am happy for my team. It’s important for us to get good start and we got it,” Binod said. “We did well with the bowling but we could have batted better. Anyway, a win is a win and it came so comfortably for us.”

“We are obviously disappointed but we are happy that we picked up three wickets,” Sommer said. In other matches, USA beat Mozambique by 9 wickets after restricting them to 148/7 in 50 overs; Norway beat Vanuatu by 177 runs; Botswana defeated Bahamas by 70 runs and Afghanistan edged Japan by 70 runs.

IMAGE: CricketEurope/JCB (Courtesy: WCL Div 5 Official Site)

Nepal beat Bahamas by 201 runs before beating hosts Guernsey by 70 runs. Nepal scored 209/7 in 50 overs and bowled out Guernsey for 139.

Against Guernsey, Nepal were at one stage in the mire at 65 for 5 against some excellent Guernsey bowling. They were rescued by a partnership of 103 between Sarad Veswakar and Mehboob Alam, the latter providing the impetus with 45 off 59 balls with Veswakar making 72 from 139 balls.

Basant Regmi remained unbeaten on 20 while Binod Das got 15 not out.

Guernsey were well aware of the potency of Nepal’s seam attack and Alam struck immediately with the wicket of Mark Jefferies with one of his big inswingers. The wickets of Smit, Oliver and Ravenscroft followed quickly and Guernsey were soon four down with only 40 on the board.

Skipper Stuart Le Prevost with a hard fought 41 and Jeremy Frith with 24 steadied the ship and were rebuilding nicely before the injured Frith, batting with a runner, was run out. Le Prevost kept going and appeared unlucky to be given leg before. With his dismissal the home side’s chances were fading and Rajkumar Pradhan’s legbreaks wrapped things up with 4 for 36.

Mehboob and Paras Khadka each took two wickets.

The match was a very useful exercise for both teams. Guernsey competed very well and the real difference between the two sides was the sheer quality of Nepal’s seam attack which could be too much for most of their opponents in Jersey.

Nepal knew that they had been tested by a decent Guernsey side seeking to demonstrate that it would not be out of its depth at WCL Division 5 level. The massive gulf between these two teams and the Bahamas suggests that the Bahamas will struggle in Jersey and that Nepal will be strongly fancied to reach the final. Bahamas lost to Guernsey too.

Earlier, Nepal crushed the Bahamas by 201 runs at the Port Soif ground.

Nepal batted first and made 272 for 7 in their allotted 50 overs. Paras Khadka top scored with an unbeaten 63 while Shakti Gauchan with 50 and Gyanandra Malla with 48 were the other main contributors.

G Armstrong (2 for 19) and N Ekanyake (2 for 42) returned the best figures for the Bahamas.
The Bahamas got off to an awful start and were 6 for 3 after 4 overs. Then 60 for 6 before being dismissed for 71 in 31 overs. C Atkinson (19) and M Ford (18) were their top scorers as Mehaboob Alab (2 for 16 in 6 overs), Binod Das (2 for 20 in 6 overs) and Rajkumar Pradam (3 for 19 in 9.4 overs) ran through them.

From CricketEurope.com

How popular is cricket in your country?
Cricket is a game that has been gaining popularity in Nepal and is now the second most popular game only after soccer. There has been a continuous increase in the number of players being involved in cricket and the number of cricket tournaments in all the six development regions has also increased.

What challenges do you face in the growth of the game?
The challenge for the growth of cricket in Nepal is infrastructure development. We have a limited number of grounds and the maintenance of the ground is a difficult task.

How much schools cricket is available in your country to aid the future development of players?
There has been a lot of involvement of schools in the U-15 Cricket tournaments in Nepal as it is an inter-school cricket tournament and there are a lot of schools participating. We expect the numbers of schools competing in this tournament to continue to rise.

What are your expectations for the event and how far do you think you will be able to progress through the WCL structure?
We are very confident of securing first or second position in the ICC World Cricket League Division 5 tournament and qualifying for World Cricket League Division 4 tournament to be held in Tanzania as we have been practising hard for this tournament. We certainly are looking forward to progressing through every WCL and reaching the World Cup qualifier.

Do you think cricket in your country will be in a very different position to its current state in ten years time? What are the reasons for this?
Yes, Nepal will probably play the ICC Cricket World Cup in ten years time as cricket is very much growing in this nation – it can even overtake soccer as the most popular game in the country. Besides the Cricket Association of Nepal, many schools, clubs and colleges have been regularly conducting various tournaments and have been increasing prizes to the participating teams and the outstanding players. Nepal is expecting to play in the ICC World Cup Cricket and in ten years time we believe that it is possible.

Originally appeared in WCL Div 5 Official Site