It was his first match, but Baitadi’s Binod Bhandari played an innings to cherish lifelong as Nepal rode on performances of unlikely heroes to earn a nail-biting victory against Kuwait at Shk. Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi.
Dipendra Chaudhary took four wickets as Kuwait squandered a good start to get out on 123 in 19.1 overs. Nepali batting collapsed once again before debutant Binod Bhandari hit a six off the last ball to finish at 123/7 in 20 overs. Nepal won 3-2 in bowl out.
Binod went in at 85/6 and scored 25 off just 16 balls with a four and a six as Nepal equaled the total. Off the last over, Nepal needed 13 runs for victory and after taking twos of first two balls; ones of next two balls and a dot on the fifth, only six off the last ball could have equaled the score.
Binod hit it for a six to give Nepal a hope. In the bowl-out, Dipendra, Paras Khadka and Shakti Gauchan hit the bull’s eye while Binod Das and Sanjam Regmi missed. Three Kuwait bowlers missed the stumps.
“I am very happy as I was able to contribute for the team,” said Binod. “I knew I could do something for the team. I got the chance and proved myself.”
Nepal left out veteran Paresh Lohani in favor of Binod. Dipendra partnered Mehboob Alam as the opening pair.
He added 16 off 11 balls with three fours before being out at total score of 30. Sharad Vesawkar just scored a run and made it 32/2.
Mehboob however continued in his fashion to score 32 off 33 balls with two fours and three sixes. Paras Khadka (14 off 16), Gyanendra Malla (10 off 14) and Basant Regmi (12 off 15) all got the start but could not continue and it came down to wire.
Khalid Yameen (3/15) wrecked Nepal’s middle-order.
Earlier, Dipendra, who once held the best bowling figure in one-day for Nepal, was given a ball after it looked like other bowlers, had nothing to do and he did the trick by returning with a figure of 4/11 off 3 overs.
His bowling is the best bowling figure by any Nepali in the Twenty20. Earlier best was bowled by Paras Khadka who took 3/6 against Oman in 2007.
Kuwait had a good start despite losing Khalid Butt in the first over bowled by Mehboob . Yasir Idris (28 off 19, 1×4, 2×6), Hisham Mirza (34 off 20, 1×4, 4×6), Sibtain Raza (27 off 40, 3×4) and Sainal Govind (14 off 13, 1×6) took Kuwait to 96/3 before Dipendra and Basant Regmi (2/10) wrecked their innings.
Paras was happy with the win but was not satisfied with the team’s performance. “I can’t explain what is happening. The batsmen are not getting runs,” he said.
Coach Roy Luke Dias was shocked by the way the team struggled despite having a good start. He praised Dipendra and Binod for saving the team.
Nepal now meets Oman on November 24 at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Oman had so far defeated Bahrain and Qatar in the event. In 2007, Nepal defeated Oman by a run.
Asked about the team combination against Tuesday’s match, Dias said he would bring in either Paresh Lohani or Naresh Budhair in place of Sharad. “Sharad has not been able give 100 per cent for the team. So I think he will have to stay outside,” said Dias.
In other matches of the day, Saudi Arabia defeated China by 55 runs and UAE defeated Hong Kong by 27 runs while Afghanistan beat Singapore by 8 wickets and Malaysia beat Bahrain by 84 runs. It was second win for all of them.
Photos by Nepal Sports Journalists Forum