Finally Nepal came good with both bat and ball to thrash hapless Saudi Arabia by 95 runs in its last league match of the ACC Twenty20 Cup.
Nepali team entered the field under some pressure, having scraped through to two tight wins, off last ball in two matches and lost one. The batting needed to fire, and win the match by a good margin, to have some chance to qualify for the semis.
Mehboob Alam leads the team out the ground after Nepal defeated Saudi Arabia by 95 runs. Photo by PhotoEverest.com
And Mehboob Alam came to the rescue for the hosts, as he has done in so many matches in the past. Pushed up the order, Alam entered as Subhash Khakurel – other batsman who has given some respect to Nepali total in this tournament – went off in the last ball of fifth over, with score at 18.
When the next wicket fell for Nepal in form of Anil Mandal (35), the score was 114 in the 15th over. Such was Alam’s domination that his first dot ball was the 27th ball he faced.
Crowd rooted for Alam’s century, which would have been first in Twety20 by a Nepali batsman. To their dismay, he did not. He returned to the pavilion in the last ball of the 18th over, with 88 runs to his name (6X6, 5X4) off 41 deliveries.
Nepali flag flies high in a section of spectators. The TU Ground was jampacked during all matches that Nepal played. Photo by PhotoEverest.com
He was stumped as the best Saudi bowler of the day Khawar Suhail fired one outside off, and Alam who had already moved out too far out of crease could not return. Suhail finished with 4 wickets giving away 27 runs.
Alam fired, and also inspired others to fire. Captain Paras Khadka scored 19 off 7, Pradeep Airee – 10 off 5 and Gyanendra Malla – 16 off 8. Nepal finished with what looked like a difficult total of 183 for 5.
During the innings break, Nepal coach Pubudu Dasanayake told the team that he needed a win with a margin of around 100 runs.
Binod Das bowls - had the fielding been up to mark, he had ended up with wickets in first over. Photo by PhotoEverest.com
Playing his first match of the tournament, Binod Das generated lively pace in the first over. Hammad Saeed miscued two balls and both the catches were dropped.
It was Alam again who gave the breakthrough getting the first wicket in his first over. From then on, it was a downward slide for Saudi Arabia. It was more about what would be the margin of defeat and not who would win. Saudi Arabian batsmen were released from the misery of staying at the wicket by the final over, with 88 runs on board.
Paras Khadka was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3 runs for 5 wickets. Off-spinner Sanjam Regmi also scalped 3 for 10 in a miserly spell of 4 overs.
Needless to say, Mehboob Alam walked away with the Man of the Match award. There were none who could give him any competition on the day where he outshone everyone else by miles.
Despite a majestic win, Nepal finished second of the group, and will have to wait for result of UAE vs Saudi Arabia match to be played tomorrow to know if it can qualify for the semis.
Brief Scorecard: Nepal 183/5 in 20 overs (Mehboob Alam 88, Anil Mandal 35, Paras Khadka 19, Gyanendra Malla 16*, Khawar Suhail 4/27) defeated Saudi Arabai 88 all out in 19.1 overs (M Nazeer 21, Paras Khadka 3/5, Sanjam Regmi 3/10) by 95 runs. MoM: Mehboob Alam (Nepal)
Cricket Nepal (cricket.com.np) provided live scores and commentary for the match. Click ‘Replay’ below to read the live commentaries.