Oman, coming into the match unbeaten and guaranteed spot in semifinal, elected to field first. Nepali openers gave a good start adding 56 runs before Mehboob Alam was bowled out Zeeshan nine runs shy of his half-century. Alam had scored 41 off just 21 balls with six fours and two sixes.

His partner Paresh Lohani (16) got out adding 17 runs with Paras Khadka and that broke the patience of Nepali batting lineup as Paras (16), Dipendra Chaudhary (3) follwed soon making it 83/4.

Lower-order got a few runs – especially Shakti Guachan batting at No 9 who got run-a-ball 17 including a six while Mahesh Chhetri (10), Basant Regmi (7) and Amir Akhtar (8) contributed a few to take Nepal past 120 for the first time. Nepal ended the innings at 140/8.

Nepal, which had to beat Oman handsomely and hope that Malaysia defeat Afghanistan heavily later, was staring at defeat as Oman needed eight runs of last over with three wickets in hands. Vice-captain Paras Khadka took two wickets off the last two balls – and three in the only over he bowled – as Oman was bowled out for 139.

Man-of-the-match Khadka had taken a wicket off the second ball of the over . Apart from Khadka, who conceded six runs in the only over he bowled, Rahul BK took three wickets, Alam two and Basant one.

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Nepal recovered from 84/6 to accumulate 121/9 in 20 overs –thanks to 38-run seventh wicket stand by Basant Regmi and captain Binod Das. Malaysia was bowled out for 100 runs in 18.5 overs.

Invited to bat first, Nepal got a brisk start against the pace bowlers with Paresh Lohani and Mehboob Alam getting some runs. Mehboob fell on 17 off 9 balls as slow bowlers pegged down the batsmen.

Sarad Vesawkar, Shakti Gauchan, Paras Khadka and Dipendra Chaudhary were soon out without much contribution. The four mainstay batsmen totaled nine runs between them.

Paresh played well for 31 off 41 balls but his departure put Nepal in danger of not reaching three-digit mark. It was then man of the match Basant produced a brave effort with Binod. The two brought Nepal back into game with 38-runs in 30 balls that included just two boundaries.

Basant topscored with run-a-ball 33 while Binod got 18 off 13 deliveries. For Malaysia, the pick was Arul Suppiah who grabbed two wickets for 11 runs.

In reply, Malaysia scored seven runs of first over of Mehboob but lost a wicket in second over as run-out wicket. Mehboob grabbed one in his second as Malaysia went down to 9/2. Two quick wickets gave confidence to Nepali bowlers as Malaysia scored slowly.

At the end of 12th over, they were 64/3 needing runs at the rate of 7.25 per over. Then Mahesh Chhetri came into action stumping three batsmen in space of four balls – two to Rahul BK, who ended the over on hattrick, and one to Basant. At 67/6, the match virtually ended. Rahul and Basant returned with three wickets each while Mehboob grabbed two.

“We always thought we could defend 120 – the wicket was doing a bit for spinners,” Binod commented after the win. “At times we were sloppy but at the important times we took our chances and got them out. It was a good win for us.”

Nepal takes Qatar on Sunday.

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Nepal will play its first Twenty20 international against Malaysia on Saturday. Captain Binod Das looked confident of impressive performance in the new form of the game.

“Every team is new for the event so nothing can be said,” Binod said. “We have seen the game of Afghanistan and Malaysia but are unaware of others.”

“We have always been good in bowling and fielding,” he added. “This is time for batsmen to perform.” He believed most of the players in his team are capable of batting.

“We will try to score more than 150 or restrict opponents to less than that,” he said adding that Nepali team would be able to adapt to the new form of the game quickly.

Coach Roy Dias believed any team could challenge any team in Twenty20. “Every team has equal chances, so the title is open,” he said. “I hope the perennial weakness in batting will improve this time.”

Nepal is placed in Group A of the 10-team event along with Qatar, Afghanistan and Oman. The other group consists of UAE, Kuwait, Singapore, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia.

Nepal is the youngest team in the tournament in terms of average age.

Squad: Binod Das (captain), Paras Khadka (vice-captain), Paresh Lohani, Shakti Gauchan, Sarad Vesawkar, Mehboob Alam, Gyanendra Malla, Akash Gupta, Dipesh Khatri, Rahul BK, Basanta Regmi, Amir Akhtar and Mahesh Chhetri, Sashi Dutta Pandey (manager), Navin Singh (assistant coach), Binay Kumar Jha (umpire) and Roy Dias (coach).

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The Pulsar Twenty20 Cricket begins on Oct 11, Thursday with four teams competing in the league-cum-knockout format. Two among the participating teams are full with national teams – Nepal Lions (captain Binod Das) and Kathmandu Tigers (captain Paras Khadka).

The two teams consists players from national and U-19 side currently on closed-camp training for the ACC event. The other two teams will be Sangrila Sharks – a team of organizing Sangrila Cricket Academy and Corporate Giants – a team of players from corporate houses.

The five-day event also features singers and DJs from Nepal and India to give an entertaining touch to cricket. All matches will be held at the TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur.

The Schedule
Oct 11: Kathmandu Tigers vs Corporate Giants & Nepal Lions vs Shangrila Sharks
Oct 12: Kathmandu Tigers vs Shangrila Sharks & Nepal Lions vs Corporate Giants
Oct 13: Shangrila Sharks vs Corporate Giants & Nepal Lions vs Kathmandu Tigers
Oct 14: Third-place playoff
Oct 15: Final

Shangrila Corporate Twenty20

The other event, Shangrila Twenty20 Corporate Cricket Tournament begins on Oct 14, Sunday with nine corporate teams fighting for glory at the St Xavier’s School Ground.

The participating teams are (Group A) Sagarmatha Health Foundation, Hotel Everest, Evu International, (Group B) Nepal Sports Journalists Forum, Nepal Credit & Commercial Bank, Nepal SBI Bank, (Group C) Chaudhary Group, Casino Everest and KIST Merchant Bank.

After league round, the top team from each group proceed to the super league and top two teams of super league plays the final on Oct 19. “The event will be funfilled with music during breaks and flooding fours and sixes,” Birendra Bikram Shah, the organizer, said in a press conference.

“Our aim to promote corporate cricket culture,” said Manoj Sood, an organizer. There are cash prizes for man of the match, man of the series, century and half-century, five-wicket haul and hattricks.

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After witnessing the world cup of the newest form of cricket, Nepali cricketers are preparing to compete in the ACC Twenty20 Cup with a hope of emulating neighbor India.

The inaugural edition of the Twenty20 for the non-Test playing nations of Asia is going to begin late October with 10 countries competing for the title in Kuwait. Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has already named 18 cricketers for the closed-camp that will begin in the first week of October.

Nepal is pitted with Malaysia, Afghanistan, Oman and Qatar in Group A while Group B consists of hosts Kuwait, UAE, Singapore, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia.

Nepal will be beginning its campaign against Malaysia on October 27 before taking on Qatar the next day. In the league matches, Nepal then plays Afghanistan on October 30 and Oman on October 31. The top two teams from each group proceed to the semifinals.

“This is an exciting form of cricket with very unpredictable results,” Nepal’s captain Binod Das said. “So there is a chance for every team to win the matches.” Das believes Nepal can win the event if batting supports fielding and bowling. “In this form of game, a team can recover any time,” he added.

“The inaugural international Twenty20 at Associate Level represents a big step forward for cricket in Asia and the Kuwait Cricket Association deserve full credit for agreeing to host such a condensed, intense format with so many teams within the space of a week,” ACC website quoted K.K. Haridas ACC Tournaments Executive.

The second edition of the event, scheduled for 2009, will be the qualifiers for the 2010 Asian Games. Three top teams from 2009 event will be selected to play along with four Test nations, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and the hosts China.

ACC Twenty20 Cup 2007 GROUP A   GROUP B Nepal   UAE Malaysia   Kuwait Qatar   Singapore Afghanistan   Hong Kong Oman   Saudi Arabia Venues:   Kuwait Oil Company Hubara, Kuwait Oil Company Unity, Kuwait Entertainment City Ground Match Times:   9 AM to 12 PM and 1.30 PM to 4.30 PM

	Match Schedule:
	October 27	Malaysia v Nepal at Hubara Afghanistan v Qatar at Hubara Kuwait v UAE at Unity Hong Kong v Singapore at Unity
	October 28	Singapore v UAE at Hubara Kuwait v Saudi Arabia at Hubara Nepal v Qatar at KEC Malaysia v Oman at KEC
	October 29	Malaysia v Qatar at Unity Afghanistan v Oman at Unity Hong Kong v Saudi Arabia at KEC Kuwait v Singapore at KEC
	October 30	Afghanistan v Nepal at Hubara Oman v Qatar at Hubara Hong Kong v UAE at KEC Saudi Arabia v Singapore at KEC
	October 31	Nepal v Oman at Hubara Afghanistan v Malaysia at Hubara UAE v Saudi Arabia at Unity Hong Kong v Kuwait at Unity
	November 1	SF1: A1 v B2 at Unity SF2:  A2 v B1 at Unity
	November 2	3rd and 4th Playoff: Losers SF1 v Losers SF2 at Hubara Final: Winners SF1 v Winners SF2 at Hubara

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