It went to the last ball again and Nepal managed to edge out Kuwait yet again. The ghosts of the past match, ACC T20 Cup of 2009, will live longer in Kuwait cricket, as this time around Prithu Baskota bowled the last over that had everything in it – two sixes, three wides, three wickets and a win for Nepal.
Two years ago, Binod Bhandari had scored a six off last ball to beat Kuwait.
Nepal celebrates a narrow victory. Photo by PhotoEverest.com
The match went into the last over with Kuwait needing 18 for a win. Six balls later they fell short by two runs, losing their entire wickets.
Chasing a not-so-daunting target of 127, Kuwait were in the hunt for most of the match, despite losing wickets at regular intervals.
By the end of 10th over, the score was 68 for 3. Kuwait looked like cruising when captain Paras Khadka ran out Jagath Roshantha, triggering a slide for Kuwait. By 100th run, Kuwait’s 7th wicket was down.
The match swung in Nepal’s favor as spinners kept their line and snared quick wickets. The fielding that had been sloppy so far, improved in this period. Saud Qamar, the highest scorer for Kuwait with 39, was left as a spectator at non-striker’s end during most of this part.
Earlier, in the day, when Nepal batted, Subhash Khakurel was at his flamboyance best, speeding his way to 40 runs off 32 deliveries. When he went in the 9th over, the score read 54.
Despite a good foundation, Nepali batsmen were guilty of giving away too many dot balls. No run was scored off as many as 60 balls, half of the innings altogether. Most of the unorthodox shots, like scoops and reverse sweep failed to provide result as they were hardly scored off. There would be some concern for Coach Pubudu Dasanayake in this department at least.
The score of 126 was largely possible due to a couple of lusty blows from Mehboob Aalam and Basant Regmi’s smart batting. However, Aalam went off just when he started to look good.
Coach Dasanayake’s quote after the match summarized it well. He said, “We need some luck and somehow it has been coming.”
Paras was more considerate as he admitted the batting had not been coming off well. He labeled the last ball thriller as ‘the best example of T20 cricket’. Perhaps the crowd will accept it, as long as it turns out Nepal’s way.
Brief Scorecard: Nepal 126/6 in 20 overs (S Khakurel 40, A Akhunzada 2/16, M Asghar 2/17) defeated Kuwait 125 all out in 19.5 overs (S Qamar 39, Y Idrees 21, P Baskota 3/17, B Regmi 2/22, P Khadka 2/23) by 1 run. MoM: Prithu Baskota (Nepal)
Cricket Nepal (cricket.com.np) provided live scores and commentary for the match. Click ‘Replay’ below to read the live commentaries.