Nepal scored 176/7 in the rain-curtailed 39-over match before bowling out the entire Qatar team for mere 78 in 29.1 overs. Opening pace bowler Mehboob Alam bowled deadly line to claim five wickets and man of the match award. Nepal had lost to Qatar in the quarterfinal of the ACC Trophy last year that shattered the Himalayan Kingdom’s dream to qualify for the Asia Cup and ICC Trophy reaching the final.

Nepal lost the toss and were asked to bat first. The weakness against pace-bowling was once again exposed as Usman Malik took three quick wickets – that of Paresh Lohani, Mehboob and Shakti Gauchan – to make it 19/3. Dipendra Chaudhary, who failed in early two matches and was omitted in next two, added 57 with Kaniska Chaugai. Dipendra made 24 off 42 deliveries while young Kaniska got 33 off 39.

Captain Binod Das continued his good form with bat scoring quickfire 37 off 27 balls with four boundaries. He was well-supported by Unil Shrestha who made 23 with a four and a six and Raj Kumar Pradhan who scored 20 off 17 balls as Nepal ended its allotted overs with 176/7.

In second innings, it was Mehboob, who hogged the limelight with fiery bowling. His tight line gave him five wickets – four bowled and one leg-before. His five, and one by Dhirendra Chand, sent Qatar to 20/6 and within next 14 runs they lost two more – one to Dhirendra and other to Paras.

From 34/8, Rocky Cutinha and Usman Malik added 20 runs for tenth wicket before Malik was run out for 13. Cutinho, who topscored with unbeaten 34, added 24 more with last man Qamar Sadiq, whose contribution was only 2 runs, before Sadiq was bowled out on the first ball of 30th over by Binod.

Meanwhile, Papua New Guinea, who defeated Nepal in the first match, qualified for the ICC Trophy 2005, winning the tournament. PNG defeated neighbor Fiji by 30 runs with Jamie Brazier taking man-of-the-match award. Similarly, Cayman Island defeated Kuwait by 3 wickets in fifth-place playoff while Italy edged past Zambia to take seventh position in eight-nation tournament.

Nepal
Paresh Lohani c A Butt b U Malik 5 (32)
Mehboob Alam c P Lal b U Malik 9 (18)
Dipendra Chaudhary st S Rillagodage b Danish P 24 (42)
Shakti Gauchan b U Malik 0 (2)
Kaniska Chaugai c S Rillagodage b Danish P 33 (39)
Paras Khadka c Danish P b Q Sadiq 8 (16)
Unil Shrestha c A Rasheed b Danish P 23 (41)
Binod Das not out 37 (27)
Raj Kumar Pradhan not out 20 (17)
Extras – 17
Total (for 7 wkts in 39 overs) 176

FoW: 14, 19, 19, 76, 83, 102, 131

Bowling: Usman Malik 8-2-22-3, Asif Rasheed 6-1-22-0, Omer Taj 5-0-30-0, Printa Lal 2-0-9-0, Saleem Akhter 2-0-10-0, Qamar Sadiq 8-0-38-1, Danish P 8-0-38-3

Qatar
Omer Taj b M Alam 3 (10)
Sujith Rillagodage b M Alam 7 (7)
Azhar Iqbal Butt b M Alam 0 (3)
Faisal Noor c P Lohani b D Chand 3 (22)
Asif Rasheed lbw M Alam 1 (10)
Rocky Cutinha not out 35 (55)
Printa Lal b M Alam 4 (5)
Saleem Akhtar b D Chand 5 (14)
Danish P c RK Pradhan b P Khadka 2 (6)
Usman Malik run out 13 (11)
Qamar Sadiq b B Das 2 (5)
Extras – 3
Total (all out in 29.1 overs) 78

FoW: 9, 9, 12, 16, 16, 20, 31, 34, 54, 78

Bowling: Mehboob Alam 8-1-11-5, Binod Das 5.1-2-9-1, Dhirendra Chand 5-2-10-2, Paras Khadka 4-0-19-1, Shakti Gauchan 4-1-15-0, Raj Kumar Pradhan 3-0-12-0

Nepal fielded well restricting Fiji to 143/8 in 50 overs with Shakti Gauchan taking four wickets for second time in two days but failed in batting losing nine wickets in 77 runs. It was 63-run partnership between captain Binod Das and No. 11 Raj Kumar Pradhan took Nepal near the victory but Neil Maxwell, man of the match in last three matches, claimed Binod’s wicket to end Nepal’s hopes.

“I am dejected,” Jai Kumar Nath Shah, the president of Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) said after the defeat. “We were unlucky, luck deserted us.” Shah was the one who, for last six years, hoped that Nepal would qualify for the 2007 World Cup. “I am very unhappy,” he added. “I feel so sorry for Binod who nearly pulled an exciting win and for manager and coach.”

Nepal won the toss and elected to bowl. Fiji started slow batting patiently and added only 57 runs in first 24 overs losing just a wicket. After that, they tried to accelerate the run-rate and were hampered by Shakti’s bowling and three run-outs. Fiji ended their innings with lowly total of 143/8.

Nepal’s weakness against pace was witnessed in second innings as opening bowler Kitione Tavo bowled brilliantly. Tavo took first four wickets in his three overs restricting Nepal to 23/4 in five overs.

Inspired by Tavo, others too bowled enthusiastically as Nepal lost wickets at regular interval. At the end of 24 overs, Nepal were 77/9 with almost no chance of victory. It was then, Binod and Raj Kumar played patiently and endured Fijian bowling for almost 15 overs and taking Nepal too near to the victory.

Binod then edged Maxwell’s delivery and that ended Nepal’s innings three runs short of Fijian total. Binod scored 45 off 90 balls with five fours while Raj Kumar remained unbeaten on 22. Nepal will play Qatar for third-place-playoff on Sunday.

Fiji
Secu Sekinini run out 24 (66)
Iliesa Navatu lbw S Gauchan 39 (89)
Neil Maxwell c P Khadka b S Gauchan 0 (12)
Jikoivanualevu Kida b S Gauchan 12 (53)
Waisake Tukana run out 0 (2)
Joesfa Dabea b B Das 19 (54)
Iniasi Cakacaka run out 4 (5)
Jone Seuvau not out 15 (12)
Maika Kamikamica b S Gauchan 14 (10)
Kitione Tavo not out 1 (1)
Extras – 15
Total (for 8 wkts in 50 overs) 143

FoW: 55, 66, 74, 80, 99, 105, 113, 137

Bowling: Mehboob Alam 9-0-19-0, Binod Das 10-0-20-1, Dhirendra Chand 7-0-25-0, Paras Khadka 4-0-11-0, Shakti Gauchan 10-0-46-4, Raj Kumar Pradhan 10-0-17-0

Nepal
Paresh Lohani c N Maxwell b K Tavo 5 (8)
Mehboob Alam c wk b K Tavo 4 (5)
Kaniska Chaugai b K Tavo 4 (11)
Paras Khadka c N Maxwell b K Tavo 0 (1)
Shakti Gauchan b K Tavo 9 (12)
Basant Regmi lbw N Maxwell 0 (10)
Unil Shrestha lbw I Khan 4 (32)
Binod Das c Tukana b N Maxwell 45 (90)
Manoj Vaishya lbw J Dabea 0 (6)
Dhirendra Chand b J Dabea 2 (15)
Raj Kumar Pradhan not out 22 (57)
Extras – 45
Total (all out in 40.4 overs) 140

FoW: 5, 10, 10, 23, 35, 36, 63, 65, 77, 140

Bowling: Kitione Tavo 10-1-28-5, Imran Khan 8-0-31-1, Neil Maxwell 7.4-1-25-2, Jone Sevoue 4-0-19-0, Joesfa Dabea 7-0-26-2, Iniasi Cakacaka 4-1-8-0

Shakti scored unbeaten 106 in 103 balls with four boundaries and two sixes as Nepal raced to 304/6 in allotted 50 overs – the highest score in the tournament so far. Italy’s captain-cum-coach Joe Scuderi’s decision to bowl backfired as all Nepali top-order batsmen including aggressive Mehboob Alam batted well. Mehboob scored 51 in 35 balls with 11 fours.

Italy’s tried to match the pace of required run-rate but frequent fall of wicket and spinners’ accurate bowling held them back. They scored 216/7 in 50 overs to lose the match by 88 runs. With the win, Nepal qualify for the semifinal as the runners-up of Group A behind Papua New Guinea and will play Fiji on Friday.

Shakti’s score is the highest score by any Nepali batsman, and only the second century after former captain Raju Khadka’s unbeaten 105 against Bhutan in 2003. He partnered Kaniska Chaugai for 110 runs for third wicket, which is the biggest third-wicket partnership surpassing Binod Das and Raju Khadka’s 107 agaisnt Bhutan.

Openers Paresh Lohani and Alam gave Nepal a good start adding 81 runs before Mehboob fell off Hemanta Jayasena after completing his half-century. Paresh however fell five runs short of his half-century but on his way became the first Nepali batsman to complete 500 runs in international cricket. He has so far scored 524 runs from 24 matches with an average just below 25.

Kaniska was the second highest scorer with 63 off 69 balls that consisted five fours and a six. His partnership with Shakti ensured Nepal cross 200-mark in less than 40 overs. Nepal’s score could have been more if the middle-order batsmen hadn’t failed in attempt to score quickly. Paras Khadka, Binod Das and Unil Shrestha couldn’t stay long.

Shakti showed no sign of tiredness when returned to bowl brilliantly in Italy’s innings. Mehboob got rid of former Lancashire player Scuderi early before Shakti came into action taking two wickets – Jayasena and Alessandro Bonora. Paras then bowled Samantha Ketipe to bring down Italy to 101/4.

Andrea Corberllari (62 off 64) and Nicola Puccio (48 off 95) partnered 78 runs but they were already falling far behind the required run-rate. Shakti added two more, including that of Puccio, to take his tally to four wickets while Raj Kumar Pradhan got Corbellari.

Nepal
Paresh Lohani b F Scarponi 45 (65)
Mehboob Alam c S Ketipe b H Jayasena 51 (35)
Kaniska Chaugai c F Scarponi b J Scuderi 63 (69)
Shakti Gauchan not out 106 (103)
Paras Khadka c & b J Scuderi 0 (3)
Binod Das c S Ketipe b A Corbellari 8 (16)
Unil Shrestha c N Puccio b J Scuderi 11 (10)
Dhirendra Chand not out 2 (3)
Extras – 18
Total (for 6 wkts in 50 overs) 304

FoW: 81, 108, 218, 227, 265, 292

Bowling: Andrea Corbellari 10-0-61-1, Troy Crossland 3-0-19-0, Alessandro Bonaro 2-0-25-0, Benito Giordano 4-0-26-0, Hemanta Jayasena 10-0-45-1, Francesco Scarponi 10-0-49-1, Samatha Ketipe 4-0-38-0, Joe Scuderi 7-0-31-3

Italy
Joe Scuderi c B Regmi b M Alam 16 (18)
Hemantha Jayasena c B Regmi b S Gauchan 28 (33)
Alessandro Bonora c K Chaugai b S Gauchan 11 (17)
Andrea Corbellari c D Chand b R Pradhan 62 (64)
Samantha Ketipe b P Khadka 14 (39)
Nicola Puccio c M Alam b S Gauchan 48 (95)
Valerio Zuppiroli b S Gauchan 4 (5)
Troy Crossland not out 12 (23)
Gabriele not out 2 (7)
Extras – 19
Total (for 7 wkts in 50 overs) 216

FoW: 31, 59, 79, 101, 179, 187, 210

Bowling: Mehboob Alam 5-0-20-1, Binod Das 6-0-40-0, Shakti Gauchan 10-1-29-4, Dhirendra Chand 5-0-25-0, Raj Kumar Pradhan 10-0-34-1, Paras Khadka 5-0-25-1, Basant Regmi 9-1-33-0

Nepal bowled brilliantly after being invited to field first and ended Kuwaiti innings for 95 runs in 31 overs with Dhirendra Chand snarling five wickets. While replying, Nepal saw an early batting collapse as top order batsmen failed and score read 39/5 at the end of 11 overs. However, Shakti Gauchan and captain Binod Das partnered a crucial 57-run and safely took the team to victory.

With the win, Nepal kept alive the hopes of reaching the semifinal and the hopes of playing ICC Trophy 2005, the World Cup 2007 qualifier, by winning the tournament. At the end of Day 2, Papua New Guinea, who defeated Nepal on Monday, leads the Group B with two wins while Nepal and Kuwait each have a win. Nepal face Italy in the last league match on Thursday while Kuwait face PNG.

On Tuesday, after losing toss, Binod Das made Kuwait regret the decision claiming the wicket of opener Khalid Butt in the second over. Butt nicked Binod to wicket-keeper Manoj Vaishya. Mehboob Alam, although went wicket-less, bowled economically with Binod.

Dhirendra, the last-minute replacement for injured Manjeet Shrestha, continued to impress with five wickets. He took wickets of three top-order batsmen to reduce Kuwait to 38/4. Before Binod took two more – of opener captain Gayoor Ahmad, who topscored with 21, and Hisham Mirza. Dhirendra then took two more to end the innings in 95. Paras Khadka too took one.

In reply, Mehboob just faced three balls before losing his wicket. Nepal then lose Paresh Lohani and Paras Khadka to make it 24/3 and two more, Dipendra Chaudhary and Kaniska Chaugai to make it 39/5.

Kuwait were sensing victory at the time but Shakti and Binod batted patiently without letting other wicket fall. Each of them remained unbeaten on 27 – Shakti playing 119 balls for his boundary-less innings while Binod his five fours in his 90-ball knock. Kuwait tried eight bowlers in an attempt to get them out but failed.

On Thursday, if Nepal defeat Italy and PNG defeat Kuwait it will be Nepal and PNG who will advance to semifinal from the group. But if Kuwait defeat PNG and Nepal defeat Italy, the run-rate will be vital (PNG +1.4, Kuwait +0.9, Nepal -1.4).

 

Kuwait Innings 95 All Out (Overs 31)

Batsman	Fieldsman	Bowler	Runs	Bls	4s	6s
G Ahmed*	c K Chaugai	b B Das	21	43	3	0
K Butt	c M Vaishya	b B Das	0	5	0	0
H Saeed	c P Khadka	b D Chand	7	12	1	0
Y Mugal	lbw	b D Chand	9	16	2	0
S Raza+	lbw	b D Chand	0	1	0	0
W Ur Rahman	run out RK Pradhan	ÂÂ	4	24	0	0
H Mijra	c M Vaishya	b B Das	2	20	0	0
Azhatulla	ÂÂ	b D Chand	10	17	1	0
H Iftekar	c M Vaishya	b D Chand	3	32	0	0
R Khan	c M Vaishya	b P Khadka	6	5	0	1
M Jawad	not out	ÂÂ	11	11	2	0
extras	ÂÂ	(b0 lb7 w15 nb0)	22	ÂÂ	ÂÂ	ÂÂ
TOTAL	ÂÂ	10 wickets for	95	ÂÂ	ÂÂ	ÂÂ

 

FOW1-6(K Butt) 2-19(H Saeed) 3-38(Y Mugal) 4-38(S Raza) 5-54(G Ahmed) 6-58(W Ur Rahman)7-61(H Mijra) 8-76(Azhatulla) 9-83(R Khan) 10-95(H Iftekar)

 

Bowler	O	M	R	W	wd	nb
M Alam	7	3	15	0	1	-
B Das	7	1	14	3	4	-
D Chand	9	2	26	5	7	-
SP Gauchan	4	0	12	0	1	-
P Khadka	4	0	21	1	2	-

 

Nepal Innings 96/5 (Overs 44)

Batsman	Fieldsman	Bowler	Runs	Bls	4s	6s
P Lohani	c H Mijra	b K Butt	5	12	1	0
M Alam	c H Saeed	b H Mijra	0	3	0	0
P Khadka	c G Ahmed	b Y Mugal	9	16	1	0
D Chaudhary	c W Ur Rahman	b Y Mugal	6	11	1	0
SP Gauchan	not out	ÂÂ	27	119	0	0
K Chaugai	c S Raza	b K Butt	4	13	0	0
B Das*	not out	ÂÂ	27	90	5	0
extras	ÂÂ	(b0 lb5 w13 nb0)	18	ÂÂ	ÂÂ	ÂÂ
TOTAL	ÂÂ	5 wickets for	96	ÂÂ	ÂÂ	ÂÂ

 

FOW1-6(M Alam) 2-20(P Lohani) 3-24(P Khadka) 4-33(D Chaudhary) 5-39(K Chaugai)

 

Bowler	O	M	R	W	wd	nb
K Butt	10	1	25	2	2	-
H Mijra	2	0	11	1	7	-
Y Mugal	5	0	21	2	2	-
M Jawad	8	4	13	0	1	-
Azhatulla	10	7	4	0	-	-
R Khan	5	1	10	0	-	-
H Iftekar	1	0	1	0	-	-
S Raza	3	0	6	0	1	-

Kuwait
Ghayoor Ahmad c K Chaugai b B Das 21 (43)
Khalid Butt c Vaishya b B Das 0 (5)
Saud Qamar c P Khadka b D Chand 7 (12)
Yaseen Mugal lbw D Chand 9 (16)
Sabtain Raza lbw D Chand 0 (1)
Waheed Ur Rahman run out (RK Pradhan) 4 (24)
Hishan Mirza c Vaishya b B Das 2 (20)
Azhatulla b D Chand 10 (17)
Habibulla Iftekar c Vaishya b D Chand 3 (32)
Raffat Khan c Vaishya b P Khadka 6 (5)
Mohd Jawed not out 11 (11)
Extras (w 15 lb 7) 22
Total (all out in 31 overs) 95

FoW: 6, 19, 38, 38, 54, 58, 61, 76, 83, 95

Bowling: Mehboob Alam 7-3-15-0, Binod Das 7-1-14-3, Dhirendra Chand 9-2-26-5, Shakti Gauchan 4-0-12-0, Paras Khadka 4-0-21-1

Nepal
Paresh Lohani c N Mirza b K Butt 5 (12)
Mehboob Alam c S Qamar b H Mirza 0 (3)
Paras Khadka c G Ahmad b Y Mugal 9 (16)
Dipendra Chaudhary c W Rahman b Y Mugal 6 (11)
Shakti Gauchan not out 27 (119)
Kaniska Chaugai c S Raza b K Butt 4 (13)
Binod Das not out 27 (90)
Extras (w 13, lb 5) 18
Total (for 5 wkts in 44 overs) 96

FoW: 6, 20, 24, 33, 39

Bowling: Khalid Butt 10-1-25-2, Nisham Mirza 2-0-11-1, Yaseen Mugal 5-0-21-2, Mohd Jawad 8-4-13-0, Azmatulla 10-7-4-0, Raffat Khan 5-1-10-0, Habibulla Iftekar 1-0-1-0, Sabtain Raza 3-0-9-0

PNG, who defeated Bangladesh in third-place playoff in the 1982 ICC Trophy, amassed 240/8 in allotted 50 overs before restricting Nepal in 170/9. Jamie Brazier, the Australian, playing for PNG scored 97 runs and tool three wickets to claim man of the match award.

With the loss, Nepal’s hopes of qualifying to the ICC Trophy 2005, the World Cup qualifier, will become tougher. However, winning the event to qualify for ICC Trophy is still position as the top two-placed team from each group proceeds to semifinal.

PNG won the toss and elected to bat. Mehboob Alam gave a good start to Nepal claiming wicket of opener Kauna Vagi who went in the first over on his first ball. PNG then lost Mahura Dai (13) at 34 but then went for a big partnership of 133 runs. Arua Uda, the opener, and Brazier frustrated Nepali bowlers scoring runs at ease.

Uda got 55 off 88 balls before giving a catch to Dhirendra Chand off Shakti Gauchan while Brazier, who was born in PNG and played club cricket in England, went on to score 97. He was dropped at 38 by Dhirendra. He played aggressively facing only 83 balls and hitting 13 boundaries – 3 of which was the maximum.

Brazier couldn’t however complete his century as he Gauchan deceived him. Paras Khadka took the catch. Guachan was the most successful Nepali bowler with three wickets while Dhirendra also took three. Quick wickets during the end of the game stopped PNG from racing to even big total.

In reply, Nepal had a disastrous start losing both openers, Mehboob Alam and Kaniska Chaugai within 20 runs. Young Paras showed some resistance scoring half-century in 82 balls with five fours and partnering with Shakti (6) and Paresh Lohani (13) for 31 runs each.

Captain Binod Das made 18 while debutant wicket-keeper Manoj Vaishya remained unbeaten on 37 as Nepal ended 50 overs 70 runs behind PNG losing 9 wickets. Besides Brazier, Inoa Bakau and Mahura Dai each took two wickets. On Tuesday, Nepal will play Kuwait who defeated Italy by 4 wickets.

Papua New Guinea
Arua Uda c D Chand b S Gauchan 55 (88)
Kauna Vagi lbw M Alam 0 (1)
Maharu Dai b D Chand 13 (28)
Jamie Brazier c P Khadka b S Gauchan 97 (83)
John Ovia not out 23 (48)
Christopher Amini lbw S Gauchan 0 (4)
Epi Morea c M Vaishya b D Chand 0 (2)
Navulani Maha lbw D Chand 8 (17)
Rarua Dikaba b B Das 6 (12)
Hou Bakua not out 20 (17)
Extras (nb 2 w 13 lb 3) – 18
Total (for 9 wkts in 50 overs) 240

FoW: 1, 34, 167, 172, 172, 173, 197, 206

Bowling: Mehboob Alam 4-0-20-1, Binod Das 10-1-50-1, Shakti Gauchan 10-3-20-3, Dhirendra Chand 8-0-30-3, Paresh Lohani 4-0-21-0, Sanjam Regmi 5-0-36-0, Raj Kumar Pradhan 9-0-50-0

Nepal
Mehboob Alam c A Uda b I Bakua 7 (9)
Kaniska Chaugai c E Morea b I Bakau 5 (13)
Paras Khadka c N Maha b J Brazier 50 (82)
Shakti Gauchan run out 6 (32)
Paresh Lohani c N Maha b J Brazier 13 (25)
Dipendra Chaudhary c J Ovia b J Brazier 9 (22)
Binod Das b M Dai 18 (36)
Manoj Vaishya not out 37 (63)
Dhirendra Chand st E Morea b M Dai 1 (4)
Rajkumar Pradhan run out 3 (8)
Sanjam Regmi not out 1 (2)
Extras (nb 5 w 4 b 3 lb 4) 20
Total (for 9 wkts in 50 overs) 170

FoW: 13, 20, 51, 82, 93, 108, 140, 147, 168

Bowling: Roka Gaudi 8-0-24-0, Inoa Bakau 6-0-19-2, Rarua Dikana 5-1-15-0, Naulani Maha 10-1-28-0, Jamie Brazier 10-2-31-3, John Ovia 8-1-28-0, Mahura Dai 5-0-15-2