Nepali national cricket team is in Mumbai as a part of their preparations for the upcoming ICC World T20 Qualifiers to be held in the UAE in March.

Winning the toss, Nerul Gymkhana opted to bat first and scored 117 runs for the loss of eight wickets in 20 overs. Opener Manish Rao scored 35 runs off 35 balls while wicketkeeper Vishal Chitrakar scored 20 off 31 balls. Pace bowlers Chandra Saud and Krishna Karki grabbed two wickets each while spinners Basanta Regmi and Sanjam Regmi shared a wicket each.

In chasing the total of 118 runs, Nepal reached the target in 19.5 overs losing five wickets. Nepal did not start well as it lost their openers Subash Khakurel and Pradeep Airee cheaply. Paresh Lohani scored unbeaten 48 runs off 55 balls with two boundaries and a six.

Gyanendra Malla scored 24 runs off 25 balls while skipper Paras Khadka scored 22 runs off 19 balls. Satish Shinde and Manish Rao grabbed two wickets each while Arman Sheikh took a wicket.

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Winning the toss, Nerul Gymkhana invited Nepal to bat first. Nepal scored 185 runs for the loss of nine wickets in allocated 40 overs. Gyanendra Malla scored 40 runs off 73 balls with two boundaries. Basanta Rregmi was unbeaten on 37 off just 30 balls with two boundaries and as many sixes. Skipper Paras Khadka and Prithu Baskota scored 26 runs each.

In chasing the total of 186 runs, Nerul Gymkhana was restricted in just 159 runs in 38.5 overs. Sarfraz Khan’s 51 runs off 79 balls could not help Nerul Gymkhana.

Spinner Rahul BK grabbed four wickets in eight overs conceding 36 runs. Pace bowlers Amrit Bhattarai and Krishna Karki took two wickets each.

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Nepal had earlier defeated Thailand by 83 runs during the first edition of the ACC U-19 Women’s Championship at Chiang Mai, Thailand. On Monday, Thailand batting first after winning the toss scored 86 runs for the loss of four wickets in 25 overs.

Sirintra Saengsakaorat was unbeaten on 34 runs off 60 balls with a boundary. Chanida Sutthiruang scored 26 off 44 balls while Sureeporn Laomi scored 11 runs.

Nepal’s skipper Rubina Chhetri, Santoshi Chaudhary and Sangeeta Gauchan grabbed a wicket each.

In chasing the moderate total of 87 runs, Nepal lost six wickets and reached the target in 22.4 overs. Nepal did not start well as they lost the first wicket with 11 runs on board. Opener Shilu Rijal and Anuradha Chaudhary were back on the pavilion with one run each. Nepal were three down by the start of the fourth over with 12 runs on board.

Indu Verma, who was adjudged the player-of-the-match, was not out on 40 runs off 53 balls with three boundaries. Berma shared a 28-run partnership with skipper Chhetri for the fourth wicket. Chhetri was back on the pavilion with her personal 11 runs off 31 balls. With the fall of the skipper, Nepal lost another wicket of Pratiksha Basyal on duck.

Verma was supported by Mamata Chaudhary for the sixth wicket as they shared a 41-run partnership. This was Nepal’s highest partnership in the match. Chaudhary gave away her wickets after scoring 12 runs. Sonu Khadka was not out on two runs.

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Nepallead Group A with six points from three matches whileThailandhave four points from two matches andChinahave two points from three matches.Malaysiaand the UAE have no points in their kitty.

Nepal won the toss and elected to bat first at the KOC Unity Ground,Kuwait.Nepalput up 158/8 in 25 overs and later restricted the UAE at 90/9 in 25 overs.

The score against the UAE isNepal’s second best score batting first, and it was the second win over the UAE in the all three editions of the championship.Nepalhad scored 159 runs batting first againstSingaporein 2010.Nepalhad earlier defeated UAE by 81 runs in 2010 inSingapore.

On Sunday,Nepalcould not start well as they lost opener Shilu Rijal for duck. Shilu had scored 35 runs againstKuwaiton Saturday. Another opener Anuradha Chaudhary also gave away her wicket cheaply for eight runs but she shared a 52-runs partnership for the second wicket with Indu Verma. Verma top scored with 32 runs in 41 balls including two boundaries.

Nepal continued to lose wickets at regular intervals. Kavita Gautam was out for 6 runs. Skipper Rubina Chhetri was back to the pavilion with 13 runs. Mamata Chaudhary scored 10 runs while player-of-the-match Sonu Khadka scored 30 runs off 20 balls with five boundaries.

Khadka and Pratikshya Basyal shared a 33-runs partnership for the eighth wicket. Basyal was not out at two runs and Saraswoti Chaudhary was on the crease with two runs. Sangeeta Gauchan scored just one run.

The UAE bowlers gave away 50 runs as extras that included 47 wides.

Ayesha Naushadkhan, Shambhavi Gupta and Humaira Tasneem claimed two wickets each.

Chasing the huge total of 159 runs, UAE could manage to score only 90 runs losing nine wickets in 25 overs.

Nepali pace bowlers piled pressure on the UAE batters from the start of the innings. The UAE lost two wickets in the first over with just four runs on board.

Nepali skipper Chhetri bagged four wickets conceding 15 runs in her five overs that included a maiden. Shantoshi Chaudhary, Saraswoti Chaudhary, Kavita Gautam and Sonu Khadka grabbed a wicket each while a batter was retired hurt.

Esha James, a 10-year old, was the highest scorer for UAE with 18 runs off 26 balls. Opener Kyna Vedhasinghe scored 13 runs while Humaira Tasneem added 11 runs. Nepali bowlers gave away 33 runs as extras.

Nepali Coach Nabin Singh was delighted after the win against UAE. “The batting sector of the team is up to the par but the bowlers conceded extras due to wind in the field. We need to improve our bowling in the next match.”

Coach Singh added that the team will play againstThailandas the players are confident and they are winning matches. “We will bat 25 overs and try to restrictThailandcheaply.”

Nepal will take onThailandon Monday.

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Nepal won the toss and elected to bat first. Opener Shilu Rijal scored 35 runs and Mamta Chaudhary remained unbeaten with 23 runs as Nepal scored 136 runs for five wickets in 25 overs. Indu Verma contributed 17 runs for Nepali team while Sonu Khadka remained unbeaten for 9 runs. Anuradha Chaudhary contributed five runs and Captain Rubina Chhetri scored just three runs. Kabita Gautam, who had scored 25 runs against China on Friday, scored just 2 runs against Malaysia on Saturday.

Syazwani and Nadhirah took two wickets each forMalaysia.

In reply, Malaysia could not resist Nepali bowling attack. Malaysia were all out for 39 runs in 16.2 overs. Player of the match Santoshi Kumari Chaudhary took four wickets giving away 13 runs. Captain Rubina  claimed three wickets giving away 9 runs. Kabita  claimed a wicket while two Malaysian batswomen were run out.

Nepal had beaten China by seven wickets in its first match of the tournament on Friday. Nepal are defending champion of the tournament.

Nepal will take on the UAE on Sunday.

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Nepalwon the second T20 match in their Mumbai Tour on Saturday as they defeated Nrilon Sports Club by five wickets.

According to cricket umpire Raman Siwakoti, who is following Nepali team in Mumbai, Nirlon Sports Club won the toss and elected to bat first.Nepalrestricted them at 124/9 in 20 overs as Chandra Saud took four wickets. Amrit Bhattarai and Shakti Gauchan claimed two wickets each. Mohit Parwal was the highest scorer for Nirlon as he scored 53 runs.

In reply, Nepali Captain Paras Khadka scored 57 runs and Sharad Vesawkar remained unbeaten for 49 runs to guideNepalto 128/5 in 19 overs. Paresh Lohani scored 12 runs. Prithu Baskota remained not out for six runs while Pradeep Airee scored only 1 run. Mehboob Alam and Gyanendra Malla were both duck out.

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Gautam took three wickets giving away only 11 runs in her 5 overs and scored unbeaten 25 runs off 32 balls to seal the victory.

Nepal elected to field first at the Unity Ground and bowled out Chinafor 61 runs in 23.1 overs. Gautam caught Chinese opener Chen Huiya off Sonu Khadka’s bowling in the first ball of second over. Another Chinese opener Li Yangying (1 run) was run out in the fourth over as Gautam was superb on fielding.

China were 5 for 3 in 4.5 overs as Captain Rubina Chhetri trapped Zhou Caiyun (1 run) LBW. Ying Lili and Zhu Liya tried to anchor the Chinese innings and put up 29 runs partnership for the fourth wicket. However, Santoshi Chaudhary claimed the wicket of Lili (13 runs) and Sangeeta Gauchan bowled Liya when she was batting at 14 runs. Gauchan bowled Liu Jia (3 runs) and Shantoshi Chaudhary trapped Ding XiuXiu run-out.

Gautam took final three wickets to wrap up Chinese innings.

Chasing the small total,Nepalmet the target in 15.2 overs losing just three wickets.Nepallost their first wicket in the fifth over. Shilu Rijal (naught) was first Nepali batswomen to return pavilion. Ying Lili took the wicket of Rijal. Another Nepali opener Anuradha Chaudhary scored 12 runs before she was bowled by Chen Huiya in the second ball of the sixth over.

However, Indu Verma and Gautam played superb knocks to guideNepalto victory. Verma scored 16 runs off 22 balls before being bowled out by off-spinner Ding Xiuxiu.

Gautam remained unbeaten for 25 runs off 32 balls. Gautam hit three boundaries and Verma struck two boundaries.

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Nepali team led by Coach Pubudu Dassanayake and captain Paras Khadka is touring Mumbai for practice matches asNepalis preparing for the ICC World T20 Qualifiers to be held in the UAE on March.

According to Nepali umpire Raman Siwakoti, who is also in the tour, Nepali team won the toss and elected to field first and the decision proved to be a right one. JNPT was all out for 53 runs in 16 overs. Basant Regmi and Sanjam Regmi took three wickets each while Amrit Bhattarai took two wickets. Chandra Saud and Mehboob Alam took a wicket each to bundle out the home team in a low score.

In reply,Nepalcould not start well. Nepali opener Subash Khakurel was out in the first over scoring only four runs. However, Nepali team met the target in 12.3 overs losing only three wickets. Sharad Vesawkar scored unbeaten 19 runs while Gyanendra Malla remained not out for 11 runs. Pradeep Airee scored eight runs and Captain Khadka contributed six runs for Nepali team.

Nepali team will play six T20 and two 50-over matches in its tour to Mumbai.

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Nepali team, led by Coach Pubudu Dassanayake and Captain Paras Khadka, will play six T20 matches and two 50-over matches in Mumbai during the tour. The tam will reach Bhairahawa by road and take train to reach Mumbai on February 2.

Nepali team will take on Cricket Club of India (CCI) in a T20 match on February 4 and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust on February 5. Nepali team will lock horns with Nerul Gymkhana in a 50-over match on February 6 and Khadka’s boys will face DY Patil Club in a T20 match on February 7.

Islam Gymkhana will host Nepali team next morning in a 50-over match. On February 9 and 10, Nepal will get Police Gym Club and Dilip Vensarkar Cricket Academy respectively in T20 matches.

February 11 will be a rest day for the team while Nepali team will take on Thana District team in a T20 match on February 12 before returning to Kathmandu.

“I’m in touch with some Scottish and English players training in Pune, India. I’m expecting a T20 match against a combined team of those players on February 3. However, it is yet to be finalized,” said Coach Dassanayake.

Significance of the tour

TB Shah, the First Vice President of Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), said that the Mumbai-tour is the first step taken by the association in the direction of giving match exposure to the players of national team.

“This is the first step taken by CAN to provide practice matches to our players on different ground, weather and crowd conditions as well as against better opponents,” said Shah.

For national team coach Dassanayake, the Mumbai-tour is an opportunity to find proper mixture of the national team.

“I’m not looking for big results in this tour. However, it could be a chance to build winning momentum and to identify our top five batsmen and top five bowlers,” said Dassanayake.

“Everybody in the team will get proper chance in the tour and I’ll try to find proper mixture of the team before the ICC World T20 Qualifiers,” he added.

Nepali skipper Khadka expects the tour to be a tough one. “I’m expecting tough opponents in the tour, which will expose our weaknesses,” said Khadka.

“After the tour we’ll have time to correct our weaknesses,” he added.

What is training plan after the tour?

According to Coach Dassanayake, he will start a closed camp training and fast bowling camp on parallel from February 16.

“We’ll spot our weaknesses during the tour and we’ll try to focus on our weaker areas in the closed camp training that will undergo for three weeks,” said Dassanayake.

“We are expecting ACC Development-Officer Rumesh Ratnayake to be here in Kathmandu by February 16 and the fast bowling camp will undergo side by side,” he added.

Dassanayake is also expecting at least two warm-up matches in the UAE. “We want to reach Dubai at least 3-4 days earlier of the tournament and have few warm-up matches,” he said.

According to skipper Paras Khadka, all the players will undergo fitness test before flying to Dubai.

What happened in the last 10 days?

The CAN announced 18-member squad for the Mumbai-tour on January 24 and it is the preliminary squad for the ICC World T20 Qualifiers.

After a round of fitness test and five practice matches, CAN has selected 18-member squad.

In the five practice matches, Pradeep Airee was on the top among the batsmen. Airee scored 138 runs in five matches facing altogether 130 balls. He remained unbeaten twice and scored with an average of 46.

Paresh Lohani was the second on the highest scorers’ list. He scored 134 runs in five matches facing altogether 152 balls with an average of 26.8.

Skipper Khadka scored 80 runs playing in four innings of the five practice matches. He is on the third position among the highest run getters but his average is 20 and his highest score is 25.

Among the bowlers, Basant Regmi remained on the top. He took eight wickets bowling 19.2 overs with the economy of 3.72. Binod Das took seven wickets bowling 14 overs with the economy of 5.92.

Rahul Vishwakarma claimed six wickets in the five practice matches. He bowled 14 overs during the practice matches with the economy of 6.35.

However, Das is not included in the team touring to Mumbai.

Team Combination

The team touring Mumbai includes Paresh Lohani but excludes Binod Das. This is the first time in almost 13 years that Das was not considered for a team he is qualified to play for while Lohani had pulled out his name from the team for the Pepsi World Cricket League Division 5 held in Kathmandu in February 2010 citing personal reasons. Lohani hadn’t featured in the national team ever since.

“We’ve explained Binod (Das) about his exclusion. Amrit (Bhattarai) is our opening bowler and Krishna Karki is also well-shaped bowler against middle order. As we picked Amrit and Krishna in the team, we looked for an aggressive and young fast bowler and Avinash Karn fit there,” said Dassanayake.

“Binod (Das) is still a good option for us for 50-over format,” he added.

The other players in the 18-member squad are Gyanendra Malla, Prithu Baskota, Subash Khakurel, Basanta Regmi, Binod Bhandari, Sharad Vesawkar, Sanjam Regmi, Pradeep Airee, Shakti Gauchan, Rahul Vishwakarma, Anil Mandal, Mehboob Alam and Chandra Saud.

(Ed: The write-up appeared in Republica national daily, on 31st January, 2012)

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Meanwhile, the board meeting also appointed other eight people as member of the CAN executive committee. The nominated are Sanjeeb Pandey (Eastern Region), Ram Chandra Sharma (Central), Deepak Koirala (Western), Purna Lama (Mid-Western) and Bipat Ram Chaudhary (Far-Western Region). Likewise, Sunil Man Amatya, Amrita Paudel and Dharma Sundar Bajracharya have also nominated as members of the committee. Amatya was the vice president of the ad-hoc committee formed by National Sports Council on October 26, 2011.

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