Rain allowed only some hours of play as the three-day match between Nepal and Hong Kong ended in the dismaying draw here at the TU Cricket Stadium today.
On the final day, frequent rain frustrated players, officials and a good number of spectators before the match finally resumed five hours late than scheduled time. Nepal scored 101/7 in 35 overs before declaring the innings and took three wickets in the Hong Kong’s second innings as the day ended a few overs earlier due to bad light. Hong Kong was 37/3.
Nepal earned 8.5 points and Hong Kong 5.5 earned points from the game. With the result, it’s now almost certain that United Arab Emirates (UAE) will move into the semifinal of the ICC InterContinental Cup for the second year. They earned 30 points while defeating Hong Kong last week. When Nepal meets UAE at the same ground next week, the home team had to earn at least 22 points more than the opponent to enter the semifinal.
Hong Kong’s opening pacer Afzal Haider was the man of the day as he took five wickets in Nepal’s lone innings. Nepal didn’t bat well as no batsmen could stay long at the crease. Opener Kaniska Chaugai edged Haider to wicket-keeper Nasir Hameed after scoring six runs.
It was the 38-run second-wicket partnership between Paresh Lohani and promoted Paras Khadka that earned Nepal some respect. Paresh edged Irfan Ahmed after scoring 25 runs off 55 balls while Paras got 28 before being bowled by Haider.
Left-arm spinner Nadeem Ahmed got a wicket in his first ball when Shakti Gauchan tried to cut his delivery. Mehboob Alam showed flashes of his aggressive batting scoring a four and a six but soon edged Haider to Hameed. Manoj Vaishya too scoring only four runs before became the fifth victim of Haider – adjudged leg before.
Binod Das declared the innings as soon as Nepal reached 100. “We batted better than Hong Kong, but still couldn’t bat well,†Binod later said. “We lost 2 or 3 more wickets than we had expected.â€Â
Hong Kong began their second innings cautiously. Opener captain Tim Smart and Manoj Cherupalambil got 26 runs before the latter was adjudged leg-before off Binod on the last ball of 12th over. Smart batted patiently for his 18 runs but saw two of this batsmen fell to two balls from Dhirendra Chand on the last over. Dhirendra’s hattrick was denied by Hameed.
“Overall, it was a good match despite rainfall,†Nepal’s coach Roy Dias said. “The wicket was helping pacers and we got more points than the opponents.†Binod too said he wanted to earn more points.
But the pace-friendly wicket rang a warning bell to Dias and Binod. “We have to be careful against UAE next week,†Dias said. “UAE’s pacers are good and toss will be vital in that match,†Binod, who was declared man of the match, said.