Paras to bat for Pulsar

HH Bajaj, the authorized distributor of Bajaj motorbikes in Nepal, has appointed Paras Khadka, the captain of Nepali cricket team, as the brand ambassador for Pulsar motorbikes in Nepal.

According to the company, Khadka will endorse the brand for three years and will feature in its promotional campaigns and activities. ´It makes me happy to be associated with my favorite brand,´ Khadka said, after signing the contract.

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Shekhar Golchha, executive director of HH Bajaj, said Paras Khadka was the right man who could take the brand to a height. “Looking at Paras’s past records, achievements and his overall performance, we felt he is the right man to represent our brand. He is a true inspirational figure for the youths and we are positive that this association will resonate with the masses and add more value to Pulsar’s brand image,” Golchha said in the statement.

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Nepal to meet Denmark in T20 Qualifiers opener

Nepal is set to meet European qualifier Denmark in the opening match of the World T20 Qualifiers 2013 to be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from November 15.

According to Cricket Association of Nepal, the International Cricket Council (ICC) officially published the draw of the tournament on Monday.

As per the draw, Nepal will meet four Division 1 teams in the group stage of the tournament.

Nepal has been drawn in Pool B alongside Afghanistan, the Netherlands, Scotland, Kenya, Bermuda, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Denmark. Afghanistan, the Netherlands, Scotland and Kenya are the Division 1 teams among the associate member nations of ICC. Papua New Guinea is a Division 2 team like Nepal, while Bermuda is in Division 3. Nepal had defeated Papua New Guinea, Kenya and Denmark in the last edition of the World T20 Qualifiers and Bermuda during the World Cricket League Division 3 held in Bermuda recently.

Hong Kong, Ireland, Namibia, Canada, Uganda, the United States, the UAE and Italy have been drawn in Pool A.

Top five teams of a group will qualify for play-offs and the play-offs will decide six teams to reach the World T20 Cup ultimately.

Nepal’s Schedule

Warm-up matches

Nov 12 – Vs UAE (Global CricketAcademy 2, Dubai)

Nov 13 – Vs USA (Abu Dhabi Oval 2)

Tournament matches

Nov 15 – Vs Denmark (GCA2)

Nov 16 – Vs Kenya (GCA2)

Nov 18 – Vs Scotland (GCA2)

Nov 19 – Vs Papua New Guinea (Sharjah)

Nov 20 – Vs Netherlands (Sharjah)

Nov 22 – Vs Afghanistan (Sharjah)

Nov 23 – Vs Bermuda (GCA1)

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Regmi, Bhattarai dropped; Karn, Pun, Giri are new faces of the team

Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) dropped pacer Amrit Bhattarai and Sanjam Regmi and included Avinash Karn, Sagar Pun and Ram Naresh Giri in the national team for the ACC Emerging Teams Cup to be held in Singapore from August 17 to 25.

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Amrit Bhattarai

Bhattarai and Regmi, who were in the 14-member national team that won ICC World Cricket League Division 3, are considered only as reserved players in the 15-member squad announced on Monday.

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Sanjam Regmi

Giri was reserved players for Division 3 while U-19 bowling-star Karn is considered for the first time in the national team. Karn had taken record 24 wickets during the ACC U-19 Elite Cup held in Malaysia three months ago. Pun was the member of Nepali team during the ACC T20 Cup held in Kathmandu. However, Emerging Teams Cup would be his first 50-over tournament from the national side.

Paras Khadka retained his captaincy while Gyanendra Malla, as earlier, is assigned as vice-captain. Sharad Vesawkar, Subash Khakurel, Prithu Baskota, Shakti Gauchan, Rahul Vishwakarma, Basant Regmi, Pradeep Airee, Binod Bhandari, Chandra Sawad and Anil Mandal also retained their position in the team.

Naresh Budhayer and Mahesh Chhetri are considered only as reserved players while Binod Das, Yagyaman Kumal and Jitendra Mukhiya, who were called for the initial phase of the closed camp, are left out.

The national team is scheduled to play practice matches and to attend training sessions in Sri Lanka from August 1 to 14 and fly directly to Singapore.

Nepal has been drawn along with India, Pakistan and Afghanistan in Group A in the 50-over format tournament. Similarly, group B consists of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the UAE and Singapore. Test nations India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will field their U-23 teams in the tournament.

Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has introduced the tournament to promote associate nations.

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Nepal to meet four Div 1 teams in T20 Qualifiers

Nepal will meet four Division 1 teams in the World T20 Qualifiers 2013 to be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in November.

The official draw and calendar are yet to be published but the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com) reported that Nepal has been drawn in Pool B alongside Afghanistan, the Netherlands, Scotland, Kenya, Bermuda, Papua New Guinea and the runner-up of the European Qualifiers, which is yet to be decided.

Afghanistan, the Netherlands, Scotland and Kenya are the Division 1 teams among the associate member nations of ICC. Papua New Guinea is a Division 2 team like Nepal, while Bermuda is in Division 3. Nepal had defeated Papua New Guinea in the last edition of the World T20 Qualifiers and Bermuda during the World Cricket League Division 3 held in Bermuda recently.

Hong Kong, Ireland, Namibia, Canada, Uganda, the United States, the UAE and the winner of the European Qualifiers have been drawn in Pool A.

In the article ‘Golden boy keen to give HK best crack at T20’ by Alvin Sallay published in the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong coach Charlie Buke has been quoted as saying: “Our first target will be to finish in the top five in our pool and qualify for the play-offs.”

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CAN selects 22 players for closed camp

The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) called 22 players in the first round of the closed camp for the ACC Emerging Teams Cup to be held in Singapore from August 17 to 25. The first round of the closed camp training will start Wednesday.

CAN has called Paras Khadka, Subash Khakurel, Sharad Vesawkar, Gyanendra Malla, Amrit Bhattarai, Prithu Baskota, Shakti Gauchan, Sanjam Regmi, Basant Regmi, Ram Naresh Giri, Jitendra Mukhiya, Sagar Pun, Binod Bhandari and Naresh Budhayer for the closed camp. Likewise, Pradeep Airee, Chandra Sawad, Yagyaman Kumal, Anil Mandal, Rahul Vishwakarma, Binod Das, Mahesh Chhetri and Avinash Karna are the other players selected for the camp.

Nepal has been drawn along with India, Pakistan and Afghanistan in Group A in the 50-over format tournament. Similarly, group B consists of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the UAE and Singapore. Test nations India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will field their U-23 teams in the tournament.

The top three teams of the ACC Trophy Elite Cup held in October 2012 were given chance to compete in the event. Nepal and the UAE had finished joint winners in the tournament following a tie in the final. Afghanistan had finished third.

Singapore secured berth as the host. Asian Cricket Council is organizing the tournament for the first time.

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Cricketers dominate Sports Award

Cricket dominated the Pulsar Sports Award 2069 as national cricket team captain Paras Khadka and coach Pubudu Dassanayake won the Player of the Year (Male) and Coach of the Year awards respectively during the award ceremony held at the Nepal Academy Hall, Kathmandu on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Nepal Sports Journalists Forum (NSJF) honored the national cricket team as the team of the year, dedicating a special presentation to the team during the opening ceremony. NSJF did not include the accolade as a separate category in this year´s award but was rather an effort by the organizers to honor the teamwork and team spirit of the cricketers, according to NSJF President Ajay Phuyal.
Captain Khadka left behind teammate Basanta Regmi, footballer Bharat Khawas, karateka Sunil Lama and athlete Tilak Ram Tharu to win the award for the second time. He had earlier won the award in 2010.

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Paras Khadka pose for photo with the Pulsar Sports Award. He was adjudged player of the year (male).

“It is an achievement for me to win this award in this environment, where all the best performers of Nepali sports are present,” said Khadka after receiving the award. “I dedicate this to my team members because I couldn’t have succeeded without them,” he added.

Khadka thanked his family, and also thanked national team coach Pubudu Dassanayake for changing Nepali cricket and guiding it to one after another success.

Khadka led the national cricket team from the front claiming 12 wickets and scoring 89 runs when Nepal lifted the title of ICC World Cricket League Division 4. Under his captaincy, the Nepali cricket team also won the ACC Trophy and Khadka was declared the man-of-the-series for his 207 runs and four wickets during the tournament. He was also declared man-of-the-series when Nepal reached the final of the ACC T20 Cup for the first time. Khadka also enjoyed success at the domestic level as he led Armed Police Force (APF) to the titles of One-day and T20 national tournaments.

Dassanayake, architect of the recent success of the national cricket team, remained ahead of wushu coach Yuvaraj Gurung, karate coach Akbar Shah, athletics coach Nar Bahadur Shahi and swimming coach Ongden Lama.

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Raman Siwakoti receives the coach of the year award on behalf of Pubudu Dassanayake.

Dassanayake´s technical assistant Raman Siwakoti received the award on his behalf as Dassanayake is on vacation in Canada.

Dassanayake guided the Nepali national cricket team to title victories in the World Cricket League Division 4 and the ACC Trophy Elite in 2069 BS. Similarly, Nepal reached the final of ACC T20 Cup for the first time in 2069 BS under his guidance. The coach is also credited for establishing the NationalCricketAcademy to shape the future of Nepali cricket.

Para-athlete award

Blind cricketer Bikram Bahadur Rana, who also participated in athletics event at the London Paralympics 2012, was declared the para-athlete of the year.

Rana, a Nepal Army soldier who lost his eyesight 10 years ago during the Maoist war, became the only Nepali athlete to participate in two world class events in a calendar year. Rana completed 100m sprint in 12.81 seconds and 200m in 26.95 seconds during the London Paralympics 2012. Both his timings are South Asian records in Paralympics.

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Bikram Bahadur Rana receives para-athlete of the year award.

He was also the vice-captain of the Nepali team that participated in the World Cup for Blind held in Bangalore, India last year. He scored 58 runs and took a wicket against Bangladesh in Nepal´s only victory in the tournament. He scored 154 runs and took two wickets during the tournament.

Rana thanked his department and the Paralympics for his success in 2069.

Blind cricket association wins Special Award

NSJF awarded Cricket Association of the Blind, Nepal (CAB, Nepal) for leading the blind cricket team of Nepal to the World Cup Cricket for Blind held in Bangalore, India in 2012 as well as for its programs for social inclusion of blind women through cricket.

“There was a time when I used to cry over my blindness, but now I have a reason to smile. Today I feel like I have won another battle for my country,” said an elated CAB Nepal President Major Pawan Ghimire after receiving the award.

Ghimire, who lost his eyesight in an ambush set up by the Maoists about a decade ago, played a key role in establishing CAB Nepal six years ago with the support of Pakistan Blind Cricket Association (PBCA) founder Agha Shaukat Ali.

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CAB, Nepal President Pawan Ghimire receives the Special Award on behalf of his association.

Despite the tragic event in early 2060 BS when Ghimire was caught in an ambush while on duty at the Kalikot-Jumla Highway, the Nepal Army officer didn´t give up hope and encouraged other blind friends to form CAB Nepal, drawing inspiration after receiving a training from PCBA.

In a short period after its establishment, CAB Nepal has already organized four national and five regional tournaments for blind men. The national team of blind men has participated in three international tournaments so far, including the World Cup last year. There are 450 male blind cricketers in Nepal.

Similarly, Ghimire and his team started working on mainstreaming blind women through sports. CAB Nepal also organized seven regional and national level tournaments for blind women. There are 120 female blind cricketers in Nepal, the only country in the world with a national cricket team of blind women.
These achievements have made CAB Nepal popular around the globe. CAB Nepal has been nominated for the Beyond Sports Award to be held in the USA later this year.

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28 youth cricketers get scholarship

National Cricket Academy (NCA) has provided full scholarship at the higher secondary level to 28 talented youth cricketers following completion of its talent hunt program for SLC-appeared students.

NCA, set up on the initiative of national team coach Pubudu Dassanayake, made such announcement on Saturday upon completion of the 40-day training camp for youth players. Altogether 58 players had participated in the SLC training camp that started on April 21. Golden Gate, Himalayan Whitehouse and Xavier International have agreed to provide full scholarship to the players.

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NCA made the announcement during the closing ceremony of the talent hunt program for SLC students as well as U-12 school cricket at the NCA building at TU ground, Kirtipur on Saturday.

´The promising SLC-appeared players have been awarded scholarship and we will later select 18 players from among them for the NCA youth squad,´ said Binod Das, former skipper of the national team and one of the coaches at NCA.

During the camp, the SLC-appeared students were providing regular training in cricketing skills as well as physical fitness, swimming and art of living.

According to NCA, it has also requested the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) to allow the NCA youth team to compete in various age-level regional tournaments and CAN was positive on the proposal.

´NCA had organized the talent hunt keeping in view the upcoming ACC U-16 tournament. The date for the tournament is yet to be fixed and we will prepare the players accordingly.´

Similarly, the U-12 School Cricket talent hunt program saw participation of 500 cricketers from various schools. The U-12 training had started on February 19.

From among the young cricketers, 33 have been picked for the NCA U-12 talent pool. According to Das, the selected players will be provided cricket training from next season. The U-12 training camp was conducted on Saturdays.

´The U-12 training was a grand success and the participation was much higher than our expectations. Soon after the rainy season is over, we are planning to shortlist 20 players from among the 33 players, ´ said Das.

CAN President Tanka Angbuhang, General Secretary Ashok Nath Pyakurel, among others, distributed certificates to the participants of the training on the occasion.

 

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CAN plans for infrastructure development and Sri Lanka tour

Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has been preparing infrastructure development programs as Asian Cricket Council (ACC) allocated more than $200,000 grant to Nepal from its Asia Cup Fund.

“ACC has allocated the grant but to receive it we should send our program details to them and they have to approve the programs,” said CAN General Secretary Ashok Nath Pyakuryal. “In a process to receive the grant, we are preparing detail programs these days and we’ll send it to ACC within a month,” he added.

According to Pyakuryal, the ACC grant will mainly be used in infrastructures development. “We are preparing programs so as to use the ACC grant in upgrading Mulpani Cricket Ground and Bhairahawa Cricket Ground as well as for constructing pavilion in Pokhara Ground,” informed Pyakuryal. “We have some other projects too but every project needs approval from ACC,” he added.

International Cricket Council (ICC) has also announced to provide a high performance grant to Nepal to make preparations for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers. As per the 2013 ICC Development Funding Policy, Nepal is to receive $175,000. ICC will distribute the amount to its affiliate and associate member nations within rank nine to 12, while the top eight ranked affiliate and associate member nations will get $ 350,000.

“The ICC grant is strictly for the preparation of World Cup Qualifiers and we’ll use it for the tours and training camps of national team and the team members,” said Pyakuryal. “For receiving this grant also we have to submit our programs to ICC and get approval,” he added.

CAN President Tanka Angbuhang and General Secretary Pyakuryal are to attend ICC General Assembly next week in London and discuss with ICC officials on development issues in the sideline meetings.

Sri Lanka tour

CAN has been planning a Sri Lanka tour for the national cricket team, which is to play ACC Emerging Teams Cup in Singapore from August 17 to 25, World T20 Qualifiers in the UAE in November and Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in New Zealand in January, 2014.

“We are planning a foreign tour for the national team by the end of July or early August. For 99 percent, we’ll tour to Sri Lanka. However, it is yet to be declared officially,” said Pyakuryal.

Training Camp

According to General Secretary Pyakuryal, CAN has been planning to call players into training camp for the national team by the third week of July. “We’ll call players into the camp 10 days or a week ahead of the foreign tour as we hope the rainy season will end by then,” said Pyakuryal. “Since we have short period for camp before the foreign tour, we’ll shortlist around 20 players and call them into the camp,” he added.

Pyakuryal said that if nothing goes wrong, Nepali team would go to Singapore to play the ACC Emerging Teams Cup from Sri Lanka.

Nepal is to play against U-23 teams of India and Pakistan in the group stage of Emerging Teams Cup along side the Afghanistan national team. The top three teams of the ACC Trophy Elite — Nepal, the UAE and Afghanistan — and host Singapore are given chance to compete against the U-23 teams of Asian Test nations — India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

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Agni Incorporated awards Khadka with a bike

Agni Incorporated awarded Nepali national cricket team captain Paras Khadka with a Demark DTM 150 Bike on Tuesday for his brilliant performance in the recent past. Paras was the man-of-the-series when Nepal won ACC Trophy Elite and finished the ACC T20 Cup as runner-up. Under Paras captaincy, Nepal has won ICC World Cricket League Division 3 and Division 4 tournaments to qualify for the World Cup Qualifiers.

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Paras Khadka receives the award from Agni Incorporated Deputy General Manager Rama Shankar Jaiswal.

Agni Incorporated Deputy General Manager Rama Shankar Jaiswal handed over the key of the Demark DTM 150 Bike to Khadka in a program in the capital on Tuesday.

Two years ago, Agni Incorporated had also announced Khadka as the brand ambassador of the Demark DTM Bike, a Malaysian brand.

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Few Qs: With Pubudu Dassanayake

As Nepali cricket gets increased ICC funding and players get busy in preparations for upcoming T20 and ODI world Cup Qualifiers, it is imperative that cricket fans are interested in what plans are put in place for the preparations. So we caught up with Nepal Coach Pubudu Dassanayake (via email). Here is what he has to say:
 

Q: What special preparations do you have for the T20 and ODI World Cup qualifiers? What are the new things you’re planning to introduce now?
A: Both qualifiers are high quality tournaments and our team has to be at the best to achieve what we want. Our middle order did well in the last two tournaments. We need to fix the openers and late middle order in the batting department. Fast bowling was always our weak link. Current fast bowlers were given task during raining season to top up their fitness. Once I come back, I will be focusing a lot to improve current bowlers and find new bowlers. I need to create competition within the bowlers to improve the fast bowler department. Most probably new talent search will be done in end of July. We are in process of arranging four preparation tours (August tour to Sri Lanka/ November to Bangladesh/ December to Pakistan or any place which suits New Zealand conditions/ Early travel to New Zealand). All the tours are under discussion.

Q: How do you plan to keep the players busy during the rainy season, when they may not get chance to get to the ground?
A: During rainy season I have planned to send few players outside to get more exposure. Gyanendra and Basant will be in Canada. Pradeep and Binod Bhandari will be in SL for U-23. If Paras recovers from his injury, he also will come to Canada. Binod Das will run few training seasons for young fast bowlers. Sharad, Subash, Sanjam and Paras need rest to recover from minor injuries. All the others are being given fitness schedule to follow in next two months.

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Pubudu Dassanayake, during one of the training sessions with the players

Q: Specific plans for specific players, if you have any?
A: Strength and weakness of all squad members been identified. As soon as I come close camp will start and training program will be design to improve our weak areas.

Q: Is our pool of cricketers enough to take us through these matches (we’ll have a long season now)?
A: Our current crop is in best shape. But we have to create competition among the group by bringing in a few more good players. I am looking forward with players like Naresh Budhaair, Sagar Pun, Rajesh Pulami, Avinash Karn, Bhuwan Karki, Naresh Giri and Yagyman Kumal, etc. NCA “A” team program will commence from September to help these youngsters.

Q: Who do you think are going to be key players?
A: Paras, Gynendra and Sharad is in top condition and I like to see Binod, Pradeep, Prithu, Subash and Anil also to step up. In the bowling department Basant and Shakti is leading the group and others has to improve for us to win games at the top level.

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Budhaair, Pulami to train at MCC

Young Nepali batsmen Naresh Budhaair and Raju Pulami are all set to attend a six-week-long training session at the oldest cricket club of the world, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Budhaair and Pulami were scheduled to fly to London on Tuesday evening.
MCC has provided scholarships to the two Nepali batsmen for the coaching course under its development program. The course will end on July 26. MCC, which was established in 1787, owns the Lord´s Cricket Ground, which is referred to as the ´Mecca of Cricket´.


MCC had written to the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) two months ago to send two young cricketers between 16-23 years for the training program. Prashant Kunwar, a Nepali cricket lover living in London, had facilitated the process. Coach Pubudu Dassanayake recommended Budhaair and Pulami for the training program. CAN had sent video footage of the two players to MCC and the latter approved their names.
“The former chief executive of MCC knew me well. He acquainted me with MCC coach Mark Alan two years ago. Coincidentally, Nepal performed well in the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers held in Ireland and qualified for the U-19 World Cup. So Alan agreed to call Nepali players to MCC,” Kunwar told Republica. “I hope this program establishes good relations between MCC and CAN and would help Nepali cricket improve in future,” he added.
Former England cricket star Ian Botham and Phil Tufnell are the products of MCC. Similarly, Australian cricketer Mark Waugh had honed his cricketing skills at MCC. After MCC expanded its development program to non-Test nations in the recent past, Afghanistan cricketers Hamid Hasan and Mohammad Nabi as well as Ireland cricketers William Porterfield and Kevin O´Brien have benefited from the program.
“We are lucky to get the chance. We´ll enjoy cricket there,” said Budhaair. “This exposure could open doors for us to make it to the national team regularly,” he added. Budhaair was a member of the national team during the ACC T20 held in the UAE in 2009. He was also a member of the Nepali team that played in the Asian Games held in Guangzhou in 2010. He was a reserve player in the squad when Nepal won the World Cricket League Division 3 in Bermuda last month, but he is yet to debut for the national squad in 50-over format.
Budhaair and Pulami were both important players of the Nepali U-19 team that finished runner-up in the ACC U-19 Elite Cup 2011 and the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers. Budhaair had scored 121 runs in the ACC tournament and 232 runs in the qualifiers. Pulami had scored only 39 runs in 4 matches in the ACC tournament and 188 runs in the qualifiers. He had scored 91 runs against Papua New Guinea during the qualifiers.
“It is a great opportunity for us. I´ll try to learn as much as possible. I want to put up a good performance in the practice matches during the training program,” said Pulami. “Meanwhile, we could get a chance to watch some Champions Trophy matches and I hope it would also give us a chance to learn top level cricket,” he added.

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Cricket World Cup format: ICC against Minnows?

When Ireland was playing England in the Cricket World Cup 2011, little did anybody know – until Ireland started batting – that we were in for a surprise. England had put up mammoth total of 325 and Ireland was considered too small a team to overhaul the target. Led by Kevin O’Brien – who scored 113 off 67 balls – Ireland chased down the target, with 5 balls to spare, causing one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Cup. Yes, Ireland were minnows, an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC), not fitting the bill of top flight teams that a World Cup boasts of. At the same time, England were one of the pre-tournament favorites. Yet, the miracle happened, and as records tumbled the match stayed as one of the highlights of the richest cricket world cup yet (in terms of money generated for ICC). As teams prepare for the next World Cup (2015), especially countries like Nepal – who have to go through grueling schedule of getting through the World Cricket Leagues and World Cup Qualifiers – the proposed system of qualification for the teams to play in the 2019 Cricket World Cup, to be held in England, has come to the fore. Apparently through a leaked ICC document. And the number of teams to play the World Cup has been limited at 10, with top 8 countries getting a direct entry while two seats are to be contested among the teams having ODI status and from World Cricket Leagues. It was already announced that the 2019 edition would be a 10-team affair. Nothing new in that. But associate nations would have hoped that the decision is reviewed, at least with reference to what they’ve done at the highest level so far. Consider a few results from past world cups: Zimbabwe beating Australia in 1983; Kenya beating West Indies in 1996; Bangladesh beating Pakistan in 1999; and Ireland beating Pakistan in 2007. All in their debut World Cups. Repeat stories of David Vs Goliath. Instances shown by minnows that they could contest at the top level, with teams touted as the best in the world. In fact, ICC had previously said that the CWC 2015 would be a ten-team affair too, but eventually decided to add four more teams at the ICC meeting post 2011 World Cup. The idea to keep the 2019 to a ten-team tournament beats logic. It has been said that the lesser number of teams would increase the level of competition. A recent example of warm-up game for ICC Champions Trophy between India and Australia would be enough to quell that notion. In reply to India’s 308, Australia were folded for 65. Yes, it was unofficial match, but the players were not unofficial. Ask Australians if they wanted to lose like that, yours truly doubts if anybody would say ‘Yes’. A minnow beating a stronger team shows that the level of competition has increased and not diminished. Sri Lanka, before winning the World Cup in 1996, had won as many as 4 matches in its previous 5 World Cups. Nepal coach Pubudu Dassanayake, who hails from Sri Lanka and has taken Canada to World Cup says, “Countries like Nepal can only become a cricket giant if we get the opportunity to play at the highest level regularly. When there is a target to play for a World Cup teams train hard and try to achieve a spot, so level keeps improving.” Once teams qualify for World Cup, the ICC preparation funding keeps teams improving. In absence of World Cup goal, it is difficult to see how associate nations would keep their spirits high. Recently added ICC funding of $ 175,000 to Nepal and $350,000 to higher associate teams would go in vain, if the World Cup goals are removed. ICC, before becoming International Cricket Council in 1989 and International Cricket Conference in 1965, was called Imperial Cricket Conference ever since it was established in 1909, for obvious reasons. A lot has changed since then and cricket power has shifted to South Asia. Probably that was the reason why talks of limiting the number of teams started making rounds following 2007 World Cup. In that World Cup, India and Pakistan had lost to Bangladesh and Ireland respectively, and were eliminated from the first round. Due to that, ICC had lost a lot of money. Doesn’t need a genius to tell you, limiting the number of teams at the World Cup is for reasons other than development of cricket.

Ed: This write-up appeared in The Kathmandu Post, on 8 June, 2013

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CAB-Nepal nominated for Beyond Sport Awards

Cricket Association of the Blind, Nepal (CAB-Nepal) has been shortlisted for the Beyond Sport Awards 2013 in the Sport for Social Inclusion Award category. According to CAB-Nepal, it has been nominated as one of the four best associations of the world out of nearly 400 organizations from 125 countries. CAB-Nepal has been nominated for its inclusion of blind women in cricket. A Ganar – World Wide, an Indian organization named Yuwa and Soccer Without Borders USA are the other nominees in the category. Pawan Ghimire, the chairman of CAB-Nepal, will represent Nepal at the awards ceremony to be held in Philadelphia, USA from September 9 to 11. Beyond Sport is an UK-based organization, which has been organizing the global sports award since 2009. The winner of each category will get funding and business support, and access to Beyond Sport´s global network.

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Women’s Cricket: Preparing for Future?

Biratnagar seems to be stamping its authority on youth cricket. That is what looks like, with the region’s title win at the Women’s U-19 National Cricket Championship, following the boys’ win at similar championship a few months earlier.

It appears as if things are on the right track for the region that has given as many as 7 players in the men’s national squad (among 14) in 2002. The region that has won 4 back to back national championships seems to be back to producing quality cricketers again.

There were some bright spots during the tournament, and they belong to the winning team. Kajol Shrestha, known to her teammates as ‘Pollard’ – with reference to big hitting batsman from West Indies Keiron Pollard – was the biggest find of the tournament. She became the only player at this level to score two fifties, that too in a single tournament, and showed the poise of a player that can be groomed for bigger things. Rubina Chhetri, who happens to be the only player from the region in the national team (both men and women combined) as of now, also showed that she was more matured than being a mere player and captain of Nepal. Despite being the manager of the winning side, she showed that she has the makings of a good coach, who can groom a young side.

All well and good… But that’s what appears on the surface. A deeper look and you might be worried, at least for the women cricketers. For once again, the women cricketers have reasons to say that they have been victims of gender inequality.

The U-19 national championship for women, played in 25-over-a-side format, was a regional tournament, where teams should have been selected on the basis on competition at the regional level. That’s fair enough, as any national tournament should be rated as the highest level for that age group and should be competitive enough. But there was no regional tournament played to select the regional teams.

The team that won the title consisted of players almost entirely from Jhapa (Milan Cricket Club of Kakarbhitta), despite the region covering districts like Morang, Sunsari, Saptari, Udaypur and Ilam. This might speak very highly of Milan Cricket Club, for having quality cricketers, but not for the region. Two players from Saptari made it to the squad, but did not get a chance to play in the tournament, for not being ‘good enough’.

Apparently, the districts apart from Saptari and Jhapa did not even participate in selection. Now, the question is, who should be held responsible for this? The cricket officials say that the selection round did not happen due to lack of players. That invites another question, is the cricket board only responsible to organize tournaments, in whatever way possible? Who should be held accountable for producing – or for failure to do so – of young cricketers in the region. And if the regional body is not functioning well, is the central body ready to or has enough will to take action?

We have to take a few other things into consideration. Ray Jennings, the coach of South African team for U-19 World Cup, had said just before the tournament, “We are here not to win the world cup, but to prepare a team for the future.” On that account, Women’s U-19 National Cricket Championship has failed.

There have been 3 editions of ACC U-19 Women’s championships. Nepal is undefeated in any of them. In ACC Women’s championship, Nepal finished as runners-up in the first edition in 2007. But following that, the team has failed to cross the semi-finals. Nepali girls say Bhutan has been putting up strong challenge against us.

Yet, Cricket Association of Nepal chose to have U-19 Women’s nationals in 25-over-a-side format, just because the ACC tournament will be held in similar format. There’s a clear message in this, we are just preparing to play in a tournament, not prepare a team for the future. If we did, the tournament would have been played in longer format, so that we could groom players. Was it because they were women?

In the week when women’s rights activists were busy parleying for 33 percent representation in Constituent Assembly – saying it would empower them – some cricketers were being marginalized in the capital. If only those demanding political representation had time to think empowerment can come through non-political tools as well.

Ed: This write-up appeared in The Kathmandu Post on 1st June, 2013

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ONGC outclasses CAN XI

Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) XI suffered yet another defeat in the 31st All India Uttarakhand Gold Cup Cricket Tournament in Dehradun, India.

CAN XI, which started the tournament in winning note defeating Uttarakhand XI, lost to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, India by nine wickets on Wednesday.

CAN XI, led by captain Prithu Baskota, had lost to Dena Bank by 28 runs in its second match on Monday.

CAN XI elected to bat but was all out for 58 runs in 22 overs. ONGC met the small target in 6.1 overs. Sagar Pun has taken the wicket for Nepali team.

According to CAN XI coach Binod Das, all Nepalis batsmen played poor shots to throw their wickets away. Anil Mandal, Pradeep Airee, Naresh Budhair, Binod Bhandari, Sagar Pun, Shakti Gauchan and Bhuwan Karki all got out for single figures and scored only 10 runs among them.

Prithu Baskota and Rajesh Pulami managed to score 16 runs each but they also failed to continue.

“None of our batsmen could stay on the wicket to put up a fight against the team that included two Test players — Ajay Ratra and Sharandeep Singh — and Ranji Trophy players like Pravin Gupta, Tanmay Shrivastav and others,” said Das.

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Biratnagar wins maiden women’s title

Region No 1 (Biratnagar) lifted first ever women’s title on Monday as it beat Region No 4 (Bhairahawa) by two wickets in the final of the Wai Wai Women’s U-19 National Cricket Tournament at the TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur.

Biratnagar elected to field and bundled out Bhairahawa for a small 63 runs in 18.1 overs in a match reduced to 20 overs per side from 25 overs due to rain. Sangita Rai took four wickets while Sabnam Rai, Sapana Shrestha, Sanjhana Budhathoki and Yanji Sherpa claimed a wicket each. Two of Bhairahawa batters were run out. Biratnagar put up disciplined bowling attack by conceding only 10 runs as extras.

Opener Barsa Rana (seven runs off 24 balls) and Pratikshya Bashyal put up a 26-run opening stand. Following Rana’s departure, Bashyal tried to anchor the innings but wickets kept on falling at the other end. Bashyal scored 32 runs off 49 balls including three boundaries. Rest of the Bhairahawa batters failed to reach even a 5-run mark.

Region No 1 (Biratnagar), which includes 12 players of Milan Cricket Club of Kakadvitta in Jhapa and two players from Saptari, reached the small target in 13.4 overs but losing eight wickets.

As Biratnagar lost opener Kajol Shrestha in the second over, another opener Rosana Rai (11 runs off 19 balls) and Sangita Rai put up a 25-run second wicket partnership. As Sanjhana Budhathoki (four runs) and Sangita Rai (15 runs off 31 balls) got out, Biratnagar suffered a middle order collapse.

However, Roma Thapa, who was playing with an injured right palm, remained unbeaten with seven runs off six balls and Sapana Shrestha supported her with two runs off two balls to seal the victory.

Indu Berma came to bowl the 14th over and claimed the wicket off Sujata Chhetri in the second ball to add nervousness to Biratnagar. However, she bowled the fifth ball wide, which turned out to be the victory run for Biratnagar. Bhairahawa gave away 21 runs as extras and it became the deciding factor of the match.

Biratnagar received winner’s trophy and a check of Rs 25,000 while runner-up Bhairahawa got Rs 15,000.

“We were approaching the match cautiously as we had lost the group-stage match against Bhairahawa. All the credit goes to the girls, who have labored hard during the training,” said Biratnagar coach Biru Shrestha. National women’s team captain Rubina Chhetri was the team manager of the Biratnagar team.

“Batting was our main strength but we failed on the very department. When Nitu Bhandari and Indu Berma got out, our expectation putting a good total shattered,” said Bhairahawa coach Basant Shahi. “While defending the low total, we became hopeful when Kajol Shrestha got out but we gave away too many extras, which became the crucial factor of the match,” he added.

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Winner Region No 1 Biratnagar

Soniya Poudel claimed three wickets while Berma and Saiyya Gurung took two wickets each for Bhairahawa. Alisha KC also claimed a wicket.

Sangita Rai, who claimed four wickets and scored 15 runs for Biratnagar, was adjudged the player-of-the-final. She received Rs 5000.

Biratnagar all-rounder Sanjhana Budhathoki, who scored 81 runs and claimed six wickets in five matches of the tournament, was declared player-of-the-series. Budhathoki received Rs 10,000. Her teammate Kajol Shrestha, who scored 102 runs in three group-stage matches, was adjudged the best batswoman of the tournament while Bhairahawa bowler Soniya Poudel, who claimed eight wickets in three group-stage matches, was declared the best bowler. Shrestha and Poudel bagged Rs 5000 each.

National Sports Council Member Secretary Yuvaraj Lama, Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) Vice Presidents Sriniwas Rana and Keshav Ghimire as well as sponsor Chaudhary Group’s General Managers Sajan Devkota and Pradeep Pudasaini gave away the prizes to the winners.

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CAN XI loses to Dena Bank

Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) XI lost to Dena Bank by 28 runs on Monday in its second match of the 31st All India Uttarakhand Gold Cup Cricket Tournament in Dehradun, India. CAN XI, led by Prithu Baskota, had sealed a two-wicket victory over Uttararakhand XI on Sunday.

On Monday, Dena Bank elected to bat and was all out for 150 runs in 40 overs. In reply, Nepal was all out for 122 runs.

After a solid start with a 50-run opening stand, Dena Bank lost its first wicket in 11th over. Pradeep Airee stuck twice in two overs to reduce Dena to 64/2. Sagar Pun then claimed four wickets and Dena was at 123/7. Bhuwan Karki also claimed three wicket giving away 25 runs in eight overs. CAN XI gave away 24 extras and 8 overthrow runs.

CAN XI started the chase cautiously to reach 21/0 in 6 overs. However, it failed to consolidate and three quick wickets reduced it to 25/3 in 11 overs. Binod Bhandari batted superbly. Naresh Budhayer and Bhandari added 44 runs. CAN XI was at 103/4 in 31 overs but it went down to 104/6 and soon collapsed to 122 all out.

Bhandari scored 66 runs but his wicket in bowling power-play did the damage.

“Overall we played well against the team that includes some Ranji Trophy players but we failed to win it,” said CAN XI coach Binod Das via email.

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Bhairahawa to meet Biratnagar in final

Region No 4 (Bhairahawa) set up a final clash with Region No 1 (Biratnagar) in the Wai Wai Women’s U-19 National Cricket Tournament.

The semifinal between Bhairahawa and Region No 5 (Nepalgunj) ended with no result as rain forced to abandon the match at TU Cricket Ground on Sunday. As per the tournament regulation, Bhairahawa, which has better group stage performance than Nepalgunj, qualified to the final. Nepalgunj had elected to bat and put up 54/5 before rain stopped the match.

By then Sudha Thapa had claimed two wickets while Saiyya Gurung had taken a wicket for Bhairahawa. Laxmi Chaudhary had scored unbeaten 18 runs off 34 balls by then.

In the first semifinal, Kajol Shrestha and Sanjhana Budhathoki put up a brilliant batting performance to seal a 53-run victory over defending champion Janakpur.

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Sanjhana Budhathoki receives player-of-the-match trophy

Electing to bat first, Biratnagar put up 137/2 in allotted 25 overs. Opener Rosana Rai (eight runs off 21 balls) and No 3 Sangita Rai (eight runs off 15 balls) got out early but another opener Shrestha and Budhathoki put up an unbeaten 93-run partnership for third wicket. Shrestha remained unbeaten with 50 runs off 71 balls including four boundaries while Budhathoki garnered unbeaten 39 runs off 45 balls including three boundaries. Janakpur gave away 32 runs as extras. Anuradha Chaudhary and Shanti Chaudhary claimed a wicket each for Janakpur.

Chasing the total, Janakpur was all out for meager 84 runs in 21.1 overs. Saraswati Chaudhary scored 17 runs off 27 balls but the rest of the batters could not reach double-digit scores. Had not Biratnagar bowled 25 extras, Janakpur would have suffered more humiliating defeat.

Yanji Sherpa and player-of-the-match Budhathoki took two wickets each while Sabnam Rai, Sapana Shrestha and Sangita Rai claimed a wicket each. Three batswomen of Janakpur fell short to the crease.

The final match would be played at TU Cricket Ground on Monday.

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CAN XI wins first match in Dehradun

Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) XI, started the 31st All India Uttarakhand Gold Cup Cricket Tournament in winning note as the Nepali team led by Prithu Baskota sealed a two-wicket victory over Uttararakhand XI in Dehradun.

According to CAN XI coach Binod Das, Nepal bundled out Uttarakhand for 187 runs in 36.3 overs and met the target in 39.4 overs losing eight wickets.

Uttarakhand XI elected to bat and made brilliant start scoring 75 runs in 15 overs without losing wickets. The CAN XI got first breakthrough courtesy to a brilliant run out by Baskota and Mahendra Chand.

Uttarakhand XI suffered a mini collapse as they were at one stage 102/4 in 23 overs. Shakti Gauchan bowled superb spell taking two wickets in that period. Uttarakhand recovered a bit and reached 163/4 in 29 overs but Chandra Sawad came back for his second spell and bowled excellent spell to take five wickets in 3.3 overs giving away 16 runs to bundle out Uttarakhand for 187 runs in 36.3 overs. In overall, Sawad’s bowling figure was 7.3-0-36-5.

In reply, Nepal failed to make good start as it lost Pradeep Airee for naught when the team score was 10. Naresh Budhayer joined opener Anil Mandal (29 runs) at the center and they put up 50 runs in 14 overs. Nepal looked in trouble at 93/3 in 24 overs but Binod Bhandari came in and smashed 33 runs in no time.

Once he got out at 134, Nepal suffered double blow as Budhayer and Mahendra Chand got run out in same over. Budhayer had scored 54 runs off 76 balls before getting out. From 134/3, Nepal slipped to 140/6. However, Shakti Gauchan (19) and Bhuwan Karki (22) ensured two-wicket victory for Nepal in 39.4 overs.

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Division 3 Mania

Division 3 mania has toned down after numerous ‘felicitations’ that Nepali team received in past few weeks. The ‘felicitations’ have continued though, after Nepali team came back home, with the ICC World Cricket League Division 3 title, but the frequency is lower. If you ignore the first day’s unorganized felicitation program, Nepali team has been the most successful ever, in receiving cash felicitations. If you add 350 thousand rupees announced by the government – but yet to actually hand over – every Nepali cricketer from that team has become richer by half a million rupees.

Yet again, there has been a repeat of immediate brouhaha following the title win and who-cares attitude some days after initial noise, just like in the past. Those who wanted to improve upon their profile by associating with the winning team are now far away from division 3 mania. They have also bookmarked their calendar, to be associated with the team, in case the team comes back with an entry ticket to the World Cup. That will begin another mania. In between, the condition is likely to be same, status quo.

The success of the team three weeks ago took Nepal to World Cup qualifiers. Nepal has been dreaming of playing in the world cup for past 17 years, although practically not much has happened in these years. When Team Nepal went to Canada to play ICC Trophy in 2001, the world cup dream looked possible, despite the fact that the road to world cup was almost impossible – if you looked at whom Nepal had to play in the tournament. Namibia beat Nepal then and got to play World Cup.

The difference is, this time around Nepal’s world cup possibilities are nearer. But practically, the journey is difficult, like in the past. If Nepal doesn’t prepare properly, the opportunity will be lost. Nepal should have a goal to finish at least among the top four countries in the 10-nation World Cup qualiifers, to be played in New Zealand, and get an ODI status. Apart from Uganda, the countries playing in the qualifiers are ranked above Nepal. Nepal had almost ruined their chances in Division 3, after losing to Uganda.

“This is the most players could do, now there has to be proper planning and move ahead strategically,” Skipper Paras Khadka’s expression right after returning home explains a lot about Nepali cricket. The major reason for success in recent past is attributed to players and coach Pubudu Dassanayake. Now the onus is on Cricket Association of Nepal, to plan and formulate strategies.

After ACC T20 Cup, two months ago, Paras had said, “Rather than saying Nepali cricket’s standards have gone up after wins in 1-2 matches or a tournament, it is important to think what kind of preparation is needed to play in the upper level. That’s why preparation has to be good. We have to play with better teams to prepare better.”

If one is to believe him, the preparation has to be according to the objective, whether it is to reach world cup, or play One Day International. So far our preparation has been to think of the tournament that is approaching immediately. If you want to look back, it is difficult to find another generation of cricketers. So if one is to take this generation as the golden generation, the preparation has to be in accordance. If Nepal plays World Cup or gets ODI status, the international financial support that comes in, has to be spent in preparing next generation of cricketers. For that plan is needed.

The reason behind success stories of Ireland and Scotland in reaching world cup is believed to be exposure to the players. Due to association with English counties, players from Ireland and Scotland get to play there easily. Now, players from The Netherlands, Namibia and even Hong Kong have stepped in English counties. It’s not that there has been no possibility for Nepali players. During ACC Trophy 2006, Hong Kong Coach Aftab Alam had said Binod Das was good enough to play in counties. Two years after that, when MCC team came to Nepal, the team officials were charmed by Paras Khadka, Gyanendra Malla and Prithu Baskota. But a bridge to connect Nepalis to English Cricket was never built.

A year and a half ago, when Pubudu Dassanayake came to Nepal cricket, there was a new energy. He said, there was no dearth of talent, but match exposure part was weak. He showed Shakti Gauchan the path to trials at Rajsthan Royals. Paras went to play club cricket in Canada. Anil Mandal, Gyanendra and Sharad Vesawkar went to special batting practice in India. Fast bowlers Amrit Bhattarai and Chandra Sawad got to play in Sri Lanka’s U-23 league. Prithu and Pradip Airee went to play club cricket in India. All these were due to initiation taken by Dassanayake. The players got some match exposure. The results are there to be seen. Nepal won Division 4, ACC Trophy Elite and crossed the Bermuda Triangle too.

Nepal is in the final race of selection for both World T20 and World Cup. Nepali team has seen more possibility in T20. Last time Nepal played World T20 qualifiers, it finished 7th, out of 16 teams, after being ranked 16th before the tournament began. This time, chances are more since 6 teams out of qualifiers will play in World T20.

One Day status is not easy, although Namibia has proven that nothing is impossible, through the success it generated 12 years ago. But for that, Namibia’s preparation was special. To play in world cup, preparation has to be special. Namibia had stayed in England for a long time to prepare.

Cricket is as good as religion in South Asia. Nepal is yet to gain from being close to countries who consider it religion, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. We are still in the habit of selecting teams on the basis of one tournament a year.

Dassanayake has already said that preparation has to start 6 months prior to playing in World Cup qualifiers. In between, Nepal will also play World T20 qualifiers. If CAN doesn’t prepare plans according to coach’s plans, Nepal will not only fail to reach the goal, but also lose the status it has. Then, there would be no mania, when the team comes back home. Those who want to improve their ‘profile’ by being associated with the team, would not be seen anywhere.

Ed: This write-up appeared in Nepali national Daily – Nagarik

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Bhairahawa tops group stage

Region No 4 (Bhairahawa) defeated Region No 1 (Biratnagar) by three wickets at the TU Cricket Ground on Friday to top the group B of the Wai Wai Women’s U-19 National Cricket Tournament.

Indu Berma’s all-round performance helped Bhairahawa to become the winner of the group. Biratnagar finished the group stage as runner-up.

Biratnagar elected to bat first and put up 98/7 in allotted 25 overs. In reply, Bhairahawa reached 100/7 with two overs remaining.

Berma took two wickets, a catch and involved in two run-outs to restrict Biratnagar. Soniya Paudel, Sudha Thapa and Alisha KC claimed a wicket each.

Biratnagar opener Kajol Shrestha scored 35 runs off 56 balls before Berma trapped her LBW. Sabnam Rai remained unbeaten with 15 runs off 17 balls while Sanjhan Budhathoki added 13 runs off 37 balls. Bhairahawa bowled 20 runs as extras.

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Coach Jagat Tamata hands over player-of-the-match trophy to Indu Berma

In reply, Bhairahawa could not have good start as it was at 4/2 in 1.1 overs. However, Nitu Bhandari (27 runs off 37 balls) and Aaksha Gurung (14 runs off 35 balls) put up a 51-run partnership for third wicket. As Bhandari and Gurung lost their wickets, Bhairahawa lost two more wickets quickly. However, Berma remained unbeaten with 25 runs off 31 balls to guide her team to the victory mark.

Yanji Sherpa claimed three wickets and involved in a run out while Sanjhana Budhathoki claimed two wickets for Biratnagar. Sabnam Rai dismissed a Bhairahawa batter.

Berma was adjudged player-of-the-match.

Bhairahawa will take on group A runner-up Region No 5 (Nepalgunj) while Biratnagar will lock horns with group A winner Region No 7 (Janakpur) on Sunday.

In a battle of two already crashed out teams of group B, Region No 6 (Baitadi) edged past Region No 8 (Pokhara) by 37 runs.

Baitadi elected to bat and put up 125/8 in 25 overs as Bindu Rawal scored unbeaten 39 runs off 64 balls and Anjali Chand added 21 runs off 18 balls. Pragya Pokharel took three wickets for Pokhara. Pokhara gave away 39 runs as extras, including 31 wide deliveries.

Chasing the total, Pokhara reached only 88/4 in 25 overs. Pragya Pokharel scored 15 runs off 35 balls while Priya Gurung remained not out with 12 runs off 31 balls. Sushila Gurung also scored 12 runs off 35 balls. Chetana Bohara claimed two wickets while Anjali Chand and Sonu Khadka took a wicket each. Though Baitadi gave away 37 runs as extras, Pokhara batters could not accelerate innings.

Baitadi opener Bindu Rawal was adjudged player-of-the-match.

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Biratnagar, Bhairahawa reach semis

Region No 1 (Biratnagar) and Region No 4 (Bhairahawa) stormed into the semifinals of Wai Wai Women’s U-19 National Cricket Tournament.

An unbeaten half-century from player-of-the-match Kajol Shrestha helped Biratnagar thrash Region No 8 (Pokhara) by 96 runs on Thursday at the TU Cricket Ground while Indu Berma’s all-round performance sealed a six-run victory for Region No 4 (Bhairahawa) over Region No 6 (Baitadi).

Biratnagar and Bhairahawa will lock their horns on Friday to decide the winner and runner-up of the group B while already crashed out teams, Baitadi and Pokhara, will vie for a consolation win.

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Kajol Shrestha of Biratnagar receives player-of-the-match trophy

Shrestha, the opener of Biratnagar, scored unbeaten 52 runs off 64 balls including three boundaries to guide her team to a total of 155/6 in allotted 25 overs. Sangita Rai added 26 runs off 30 balls while Rosana Rai chipped in with 15 runs off 22 balls. However, Biratnagar benefited the most from extras as Pokhara bowlers gave away 54 runs as extras with their indiscipline attack. They bowled 45 wides. Pragya Pokharel with a bowling figure of 5-0-12-2 was the most successful Pokhara bowler.

In chasing the total, Pokhara was all out for 59 runs in 19.3 overs. Sapana Shrestha, Yanji Sherpa and Sangita Rai took two wickets each for Biratnagar while Sanjhana Budhathoki claimed a wicket. Three batters from Pokhara fell short to the crease. Pragya Pokharel (nine runs off 26 balls) was the highest scorer for Pokhara. Had not Biratnagar bowled 29 runs as extras, Pokhara would have suffered more humiliating defeat.

In the second match of the day, player-of-the-match Indu Berma scored 29 runs off 36 balls and took three wickets to seal a six-run victory for Bhairahawa. Electing to bat, Bhairahawa put up 125/5 in 25 overs as Pratikshya Bashyal scored 27 runs and Aaksha Gurung added 23 runs off 37 balls. Hema Air claimed a wicket for Baitadi while four Bhairahawa batters fell short to the crease.

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Indu Berma of Bhairahawa receives player-of-the-match trophy

Baitadi could reach only 119/8 in 25 overs. Besides Berma, Soniya Paudel took two wickets while Sudha Thapa and Saiyya Gurung claimed a wicket each for Bhairahawa. Kabita Kunwar (22 runs off 16 balls), Sonu Khadka (22 runs off 26 balls) and Chetana Bohara (16 runs off 24 balls) were the highest contributors for Baitadi but their effort was not enough to avoid consecutive defeats.

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Baskota to lead CAN XI in Dehradun

Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has informed that a team led by Prithu Baskota would play the 31st All India Uttarakhand Gold Cup Cricket Tournament in Dehradun on the name of CAN XI. The CAN organized a press conference on Thursday and informed that the team would move to Dehradun via Dhangadhi.

Only seven players of the national team that clinched the ICC World Cricket League Division 3 are included in the 14-member team of CAN XI. “Captain Paras Khadka, Gyanendra Malla and Basant Regmi are in process to play professional cricket in Canada. Sharad Vesawkar, Rahul Vishwakarma and Subash Khakurel are injured while two bowlers, Amrit Bhattarai and Sanjam Regmi, are rested,” said Ashok Nath Pyakuryal, the general secretary of the CAN.

CAN XI led by Baskota includes Bhuwan Karki as vice-captain. Shakti Gauchan, Anil Mandal, Binod Bhandari, Pradeep Airee, Sagar Pun, Ram Naresh Giri, Naresh Budhair, Avinash Karn, Chandra Sawad, Yagyaman Kumal, Mahendra Chand and Rajesh Pulami are the members of CAN XI. The CAN has assigned former national team captain Binod Das as the coach of the team while Purna Kumar Lama and Jyanendra Jha will accompany the team as manager and physio respectively. According to Pyakuryal, wicketkeeper Mahendra Chand is currently staying in Delhi and will join the team in Dehradun.

“We hope it would be a good practice tour for Nepali team. We have given the opportunities to young players as our national team coach Pubudu Dassanayake suggested us to do so,” said Pyakuryal.

Nepal will take on ONGC Limited, Air India and KGK Jaipur in the group stage matches of the tournament, which is participated by 16 teams. The tournament carries a prize of INR 150,000 for the winner.

Felicitation to Nat’l team

HimalayanWhiteHouseInternationalCollege felicitated national cricket team that won ICC World Cricket League Division 3 on Thursday. National Sports Council Member Secretary Yuvaraj Lama and the college CEO Yuvaraj Sharma handed over letters of appreciation to all players and a sum of Rs 101,111 to the team.

Meanwhile, the college felicitated former national team captain Binod Das, who studies in the college. It also handed over a support of Rs 25,000 to the NationalCricketAcademy, where Das is working as a coaching staffer.

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Biratnagar, Bhairahawa make winning starts

Region No 1 (Biratnagar) and Region No 4 (Bhairahawa) made winning starts in the Wai Wai Women’s U-19 National Cricket Tournament on Wednesday.

As the matches of Group B of the tournament began on Wednesday at the TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, Biratnagar edged past Region No 6 (Baitadi) by 29 runs while Bhairahawa thrashed Region No 8 (Pokhara) by eight wickets. Region No 7 (Janakpur) and Region No 5 (Nepalgunj) have already reached the semifinals from Group A.

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Sabnam Rai of Biratnagar bowls against Baitadi

Biratnagar elected to bat and put up 108/8 in the allotted 25 overs. In reply, Baitadi was all out for 79 runs in 18 overs.

Captain Sanjhana Budhathoki scored 25 runs off 39 balls for Biratnagar while Roma Thapa added 21 runs off 32 balls. Likewise, opener Kajol Shrestha (15 runs off 25 balls) and Roshana Rai (12 runs off 26 balls) chipped in to put up a defendable total. Baitadi bowlers conceded 30 runs as extras, which later proved costly for the team.

Anjali Chand, Kabita Kunwar and Hema Air took two wickets each for Baitadi while Sonu Khadka and Chetana Bohara claimed a wicket each.

In the run-chase, only Sonu Khadka (25 runs off 34 balls) and Anjali Chand (13 runs off 14 balls) were able to offer some resistance to Biratnagar’s bowling attack as Baitadi slumped to a 29-run defeat. Sangita Rai, Sapana Shrestha and Yanji Sherpa claimed two wickets each while Shabnam Rai took one wicket. Three batswomen of Baitadi fell short of the crease.

Biratnagar captain Sanjhana Budhathoki was adjudged the player of the match.

In the second match of the day, Pokhara elected to bat but was all out for a meager 68 runs in 20.3 overs. Sushila Gurung was the highest scorer for Pokhara with 12 runs off 23 balls. Soniya Paudel claimed five wickets for Bhairahawa while Barsha Rana claimed three to skittle Pokhara for a low score. Indu Berma took one wicket.

Had Bhairahawa not given away 24 runs as extras, Pokhara would have suffered a more humiliating defeat.

In reply, Pratiksha Basyal scored an unbeaten 29 runs off 36 balls and Aaksha Gurung remained unbeaten on 10 runs off 13 balls to seal an eight-wicket victory in 12.2 overs. Aarya Aryal and Prabha Nepali claimed a wicket each for Pokhara.

Soniya Paudel was adjudged the player of the match for her brilliant bowling.

Pokhara will take on Biratnagar on Thursday while Bhairahawa will lock horns with Baitadi at the TU Cricket Ground.

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Janakpur, Nepalgunj reach semis

Region No 7 (Janakpur) and Region No 5 (Nepalgunj) entered the semifinals of Wai Wai Women´s U-19 National Cricket Tournament on Tuesday.

Defending champion Janakpur, which had lost its opening match against Nepalgunj on Sunday, registered an eight-wicket victory over Region No 2 (Birgunj) on Tuesday at the TU Cricket Ground to top Group A of the tournament. Janakpur had defeated Region No 3 (Kathmandu) on Monday. Nepalgunj lost to Kathmandu in super over on Tuesday.

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Shanti Chaudhary receives player-of-the-match trophy

However, Nepalgunj qualified for the semifinals as the Group A runner-up as it has a better net run rate than Birgunj, which had defeated Kathmandu on Sunday. Nepalgunj had won its first match against Janakpur on Sunday and shared points with Birgunj on Monday after the match was abandoned due to rain.

In the crucial match, Birgunj elected to bat and put up 72/9 in the allotted 25 overs. In reply, Janakpur reached the low target in 17.1 overs losing only two wickets.

Shanti Chaudhary claimed three wickets while Mamta Chaudhary and Kritu Dahal took two wickets each for Janakpur to restrict Birgunj to a low total. Janakpur bowlers gave away 26 runs as extras. Rachana Aryal (17 runs off 42 balls) was the highest contributor for Birgunj and the only batswoman to reach double figures.

Chasing the small total, Nepalgunj openers Shanti Chaudhary and Sanju Chaudhary (4 runs off 18 balls) put up a 28-run partnership. Sita Shrestha claimed the wicket of Sanju while Shanti fell short of the crease after scoring 19 runs off 44 balls. However, Usha Bhujel (13 runs off 29 balls) and Mamta Chaudhary (12 runs off 13 balls) remained unbeaten to seal an easy victory. Birgunj conceded 25 extras.

Shanti Chaudhary was adjudged the player of the match for her all-round performance.

In the last match of Group A, Kathmandu defeated Nepalgunj in super over following a tie.

Nepalgunj elected to bat and put up 108/6 in the allotted 25 overs. In reply, Kathmandu also reached 108/8 in 25 overs.

Nepalgunj was at 14/4 at one stage but Saya Basnet and captain RekhaBC put up a 74-run partnership for the fifth wicket to rescue the team. BC was bowled by Sajani Shrestha after making 33 runs off 44 balls. Basnet scored 43 runs off 58 balls before she was run out.

Kathmandu also made a nervous start in the run-chase and was at 5/3 in 3.2 overs. However, Rabina Bhandari and Sangita Gauchan added 62 runs for the fourth wicket. Player-of-the-match Bhandari was run out after scoring a run-a-ball 40. She struck five boundaries. Gauchan remained unbeaten on 29 runs off 63 balls to guide the match to a thrilling tie.

In the super over, Kathmandu scored 11 runs without losing any wicket while Nepalgunj could reach only 5/0 in reply.

Group B matches will begin on Wednesday with Region No 1 (Biratnagar) taking on Region No 6 (Baitadi) and Region No 4 (Bhairahawa) locking horns with Region No 8 (Pokhara).

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