By Devendra Subedi, Colombo
Slow bowlers reigned as England defeated spirited Nepal by 77 runs in the U-19 Cricket World Cup today at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground.
Nepal affected three run outs to restrict England to 209/9 in 50 overs while the same number of run outs marred Nepal’s run-chase. Nepal was bowled out for 132 runs in 45.4 overs as the English spinners found their rhythm going.
When Nepali skipper Kanishka Chaugai came out all guns blazing to put up 42/0 in six overs, Nepal looked set to register a historic victory. But the English slow bowlers effectively put brakes on run. Kanishka pulled hamstring and retired hurt when he was at 30 runs off 24 balls with five fours.
With his departure and introduction of spin attack, Nepal lost rhythm. Misunderstanding in running between the wickets made the matter worse. From sixth to 19 overs, Nepal only scored 15 runs losing three wickets.
“There were three major lapses in the field today. The two dropped catches of Moeen Ali and Varun Chopra, three silly run outs and injury to Kanishka. But if I have to pick one it must be the two dropped catches. If we had hung on to those, England would not have been able to score past 200,” said Nepal’s coach Roy Dias.
Prem Chaudhary, who made impressive 31 before being run out, tried to break the English spinners’ shackle with two sixes and two fours. His 38-run partnership with Paras Khadka brought back some smiles but that soon faded. Kanishka returned to partner Prem but could only manage four more before getting inside-edge into his stumps.
Earlier, English skipper Moeen Ali opted to bat first on a pitch that offered some help to the seamers early on. Nepali seamers were able to cramp the English openers and the pressure resulted in a run out as Nepal broke the opening partnertship for just seven runs. The 80-run second wicket partnership between Mark Nelson (40) and Varun Chopra (38) pulled England back into the game.
Gyanendra dropped Chopra while he was on eight at points while the English skipper who took the total to 209 was dropped twice. When the spinners came in, the scoring rate significantly slowed down. Ratan Rauniyar, Raj Shrestha and Basanta Regmi bowled really well in the pitch that had no pace for the batsmen to free their arms.
Moeen made 54 with two sixes and was caught at long on boundary off Sharad who picked up a couple. Ratan and Basanta, who bowled at the death overs, did their best. Ratan was unlucky to finish with just a wicket while Basanta got two.
“It was a laudable effort from our bowlers and fielders to restrict England to 209. But my injury broke the rhythm of the match,” said Kanishka. His counterpart Moeen, who was adjudged the man of the match, said, “It was much difficult than what we had thought. Nepali spinners bowled very well but our spinners also matched their effort to win the match.”
Nepal is playing Zimbabwe Tuesday at the Nondescript Cricket Club Ground which it should win to stay alive to qualify to the next round.