Nepal created enough points to beat Pakistan in the SAARC Twenty20 Cup, but faltered in crunch times to bow out of the event with a big 73-run defeat in Maldives.
Pakistan scored 176/9 in 20 overs and restricted Nepal for 203/9 to proceed to the semifinals along with Sri Lanka from Group B.
It looked an easy win for Pakistan, however, it wasn’t. They got enough chill on their back as they went down to 55/7 in 12 overs and saw the 43-run opening stand in 6 overs during Nepal’s innings.
Nepal won the toss and invited Pakistan to bat. Paras Khadka struck in the first over claiming N Jamshaid and Nepal was on top taking regular wickets. Krishna Karki grabbed four wickets in four overs; Paras added one more along with a wicket by Amrit Bhattarai and Bhuwan Karki ensured that Pakistan was struggling at 55/7 in 12 overs.
But Nepal’s party ended there. Mohamed Aziz and Ali Khan played chanceless knocks for a century partnership. They added 102 runs for eighth wickets snatching away the game from Nepal. Aziz scored 48 runs in 22 balls hitting three fours and four sixes and Khan scored 62 off 41 balls with two fours and five sixes.
A six-ball 18 by A Assad towards the conclusion of the innings took Pakistan to a strong total of 176/9.
Nepal had to win the match by the end of 10th over to qualify for the semifinals. However, they concentrated on winning rather than trying to do the impossible.
Nepal had a good opening partnership between Mahesh Chhetri and Anil Mandal. Mandal and Chhetri shared a 43-run partnership for the first wicket.
Chhetri was the highest scorer with 21 runs. Nepal scored only 60 runs in the remaining 13 overs losing eight wickets.
Skipper Khadka said that the middle order batsmen could not perform well and the team lost quick wickets. “We did a great job by taking seven wickets of Pakistan early but the two batsmen batted well and did not allowed us to come into the game. The target was attainable but poor batting cost us the game.”
Nepal´s coach Pubudu Dassanayake said that the Pakistani bowlers did not allow Nepali batsmen to settle in the crease. “Our batsmen failed to perform well but the bowlers bowled really well too. It is a big achievement to restrict Pakistan for just 176 runs.”
In the semifinals, Afghanistan will face Sri Lanka while Pakistan will lock horns with the host the Maldives.
Brief Scorecard
Pakistan 179/9 (A Khan 62 M Rameez 48, A Assad 18*, Krishna Karki 4/11, Paras Khadka 2/32, Amrit Bhattarai 2/34, Pradeep Airee 1/36) beat Nepal 103/9 (Mahesh Chhetri 21, Amrit Bhattarai 17*, Anil Mandal 16, Prithu Baskota 11, A Khan 2/7, U Qadir 2/13, R Hassan 2/17, M Talha 2/23) by 73 runs.