Rochak Bhatta led the splendid spells of spin bowling to help Nepal defend 77 and put Nepal into the semifinal of the ACC U-17 Elite Cup with a 28-run victory over Hong Kong at the BSAM Ground, Bhaktapur on Saturday.
Rochak Bhatta celebrates a wicket.
Rochak took four wickets in his seven overs spell to bowl out Hong Kong for 49. It was second defeat of Hong Kong in three matches and they are now out of race for last four. Qatar beat Singapore by three wickets at IOE Ground to become the second semifinalists from Group A.
Regardless of the result of the match between Nepal and Singapore, Nepal will proceed to the semifinal as the group winners. Even if Nepal loses on Sunday, Nepal will be atop the table for it’s win over Qatar.
“Nepal outplayed us,” Sher Lama, Hong Kong’s Nepali coach said after the match. The team was unlucky as they lost to Qatar on Thursday giving away a six in the last ball.
Nepal won the toss and elected to bat first. But any intention of Prithu Baskota to put on a big total was hit hard by early wickets as batsmen went into selecting bad shots. Hong Kong bowlers maintained disciplined and fielded well.
Nepal was in no time 35/5. Then Akash Pariyar (14) and Bhuwan Karki (16) played a patient partnership adding 40 valuable runs. It was Akash’s run-out that began the wreckage. Nepal lost the final five wickets for two runs finishing the innings at 77 in 23.1 overs.
Bhuwan Karki plays a shot.
The other notable contributor was Kriten Gurung who scored 12 as an opener.
“When I see other team, I feel our batting is the best, yet it did not click today,” Roy Dias, seemingly unpleased after the innings said. “Selection of shots was very, very wrong.”
“Three stupid run-outs also did not help us,” Dias added. Four batsmen including captain Prithu did not open their account. Hong Hong’s pacer Mohd Aizaz Khan was pick of the bowler for his 3/21 while his new ball partner Uwaise Ur Rahman got two.
Hong Kong’s innings did not begin well. Dias’ had said Abinash Karn a player to watch before the event, and Abinash showed glimpses of that taking two early wickets as Hong Kong went down to 17/2. At lunch, they were 27/2 in 14 overs.
‘Still a long way to go’ was what Lama told Dias during their crossover at lunch and it proved he was right. The introduction of spinners after six overs did the trick as they blocked runs.
After lunch, they started taking wickets. Skipper Miten Khatri was run out and then it was Rochak all over. He took next four wickets including that of Nizakat Khan (18) – the top scorer – and made it 43/7. “After fall of Nizakat, I felt we would win,” Dias said. “But the first three wickets to fall early was important.”
Prithu then re-introduced himself for a over and took two wickets while Bhuwan, who bowled really well giving away only six runs in 7 overs took the last wicket to bring Nepal a comprehensive victory at the end. “I had told my players to play as if they were defending 50,” Dias said. “And, they did.”
Prithu was all smiling to overcome a ‘batting flop’. “We flopped in batting, silly shots,” he said. “But I had faith on my bowlers.”
Prithu promised of better batting and fielding display in next matches. Nepal plays Singapore on Sunday.
PHOTOS: Udipt Singh Chhetry/NepalSportsPhoto.com