By Devendra Subedi, Colombo
Nepal continued to be a thorn in South African flesh as vice-captain Paras Khadka and left-arm spinner Basanta Regmi bowled Nepal to a sensational two-run victory in the Plate semifinal of the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup.
South Africa needed 16 runs off the last two overs chasing Nepal’s 214/8 but Basanta gave away only six runs and took a wicket to give Nepal an upper-hand. Paras then shouldered the responsibility of bowling the last over and gave away only seven runs off his off-spin. South African captain Dean Elgar had to hit three runs off the last ball for victory but played a dot ball.
It was Nepal’s second win in a row over Proteas. Two years ago, Nepal defeated the Test nation by a wicket. In 2000, rainfall helped Nepal proceed to super-league ahead of mighty South Africa. Nepal now takes on New Zealand in the Plate final on Saturday.
“All I tried to do was keep the bal full and straight,” Paras said about his last over. He could have taken a wicket had Ratan Rauniyar held on to a skier at long on off the fourth ball.
South Africa played patiently despite being 99/4 at one time with the required run-rate going higher. Once past 40 overs, they started hitting boundaries and took the game close. They needed 31 runs to win off the last three overs but nearly pulled it off hitting 15 runs in the 48th over bowled by Raj Shrestha.
Elgar (unbeaten 66) and Ramoo (38) partnered 106 runs taking the team to the brink of victory after early setbacks. South Africa lost its opener Jean Symes after a magnificent diving catch by Prem Chaudhary at mid-on off Amrit Bhattarai after the openers added 39. Nepal opted to play with two seamers, Amrit and Paras, who did well to restrict the South Africans early on.
Although Ratan and Raj disappointed, Basanta made sure that Nepal would survived through spin taking three wickets for 31 runs off his 10 overs. Part-timer also Sharad bowled well.
Earlier, openers Kanishka and Mahesh Chhetri gave another half century stand of 67 runs. Kanishka completed his second half-century of the event off 55 deliveries with six boundaries and a six. During his knock, he also achieved the milestone of scoring 500 runs in the U-19 World Cup. He was out after scoring 59 runs taking his total to 520 runs from 19 innings
Mahesh went out for 15 that included two fours while Sharad got out softly after scoring 19 with three boundaries. Gyanendra Malla continued his form of the last match (in which he scored 66) remaining unbeaten on 46 off 71 balls. He hit six boundaries and ensured Nepal reach a defendable total. Malusi Siboto was expensive but picked up four wickets while Jean Symes picked up three.
“This is the biggest win for us,” Nepal’s coach Roy Dias commented. “Basanta and Paras bowled well while Kanishka and Gyanendra did well to take us past 210.”
“I credit this win to the team,” a jubilant captain Kanishka said. “The toss was crucial as we got an opportunity to bat first and set a target.” The captain was adjudged the man of the match for his brilliant half-century.
South African coach Rey Jennings was full of praise for Nepali spinners and fielders. “I think Nepal is the deserving winner,” he said. “They played better than us.”