NEPAL QUALIFY FOR THE YOUTH WORLD CUP
Nepal qualified for the Youth World Cup 2008 clinching the ACC U-19 Elite Cup cricket tournament at the Kinrara Oval Ground on Wednesday.
In the final, Nepal defeated Afghanistan by 48 runs for its fourth successive title at this level. In a closely contested match, Nepal batted first to score 172 runs in 49.4 overs and bowled out the South Asian neighbors for 124 in 45.5 overs.
Nepal has not lost a single match in the event since 2001, winning titles in 2001, 2003 and 2005 prior to this. Nepal was runner-up to Bangladesh in 1999.
“This is a great win,” Nepal’s coach Roy Dias commented after the victory. “Among all matches, the final was the most interesting.” Nepal will now play its fifth Youth World Cup (YWC) in Malaysia in February, 2008. ACC informed that there would not be any playoff against Scotland for the YWC spot.
While defending a moderate total, Nepali spinners played a crucial role as Shashi Keshari led with three wickets while Rahul Biswokarma and Sagar Khadka each took two wickets. Raj Shrestha took a wicket while pacers Amrit Bhattarai and Abhaya Rana chipped in with one each.
But it was Amrit and Paras Khadka who bowled with discipline restricting free-hitting Afghan batsmen at the start of the innings that set the foundation for victory. The Afghans played very slowly in the beginning scoring a run-an-over till the 10th over and at the rate of two runs until the 34th over.
Man-of-the-final Shir Shirzai scored 66 runs for Afghanistan and as long as he was at the crease, Afghanistan was hopeful of a victory despite needing 64 runs in the last 10 overs. But it collapsed from 108/5 to 124 all out in an attempt to accelerate.
Nepal lost two wickets in the first two overs, after electing to bat, as Shashi Keshari and Gyanendra Malla were dismissed to put the team in trouble. Paras Khadka and Mahesh Chhetri added 44 runs before Paras was bowled off an inside-edge at 28. Soon, Mahesh departed for 14 along with Antim Thapa and Nepal slumped to 60/5 in the 22nd over.
Akash Gupta, batting at No 7, was in a different mood though and scored a run-a-ball 48 with six fours and a six. He partnered 61 runs with Sagar Khadka, who himself got 32 off 79 balls. Raj Shrestha also got 14 runs.
“Nepal’s bowling was better than we thought,” Afghan coach Taj Malik said. “They played great cricket.”
“I am grateful to my players for this win,” captain Paras Khadka, who was later named man-of-the-series, said after the win. “We didn’t score much but we won convincingly.”
PHOTOS AND TEXT BY ANIL BOGATI