If Nepal had any hopes of making into the Super League of the ICC U19 World Cup after a 212-run defeat in the hands of the hosts Australia, it rested on an act of beating Ireland and giant-killing England. However, it was Ireland who turned the tables upside down.
Avenging the loss they had suffered at home during the Qualifiers for the U19 World Cup, Ireland beat Nepal by 14 runs. If you consider that’s was a close margin, you surely hadn’t followed the match live. It was a defeat that was bigger than the margin.
Winning the toss Ireland opted to bat and made a modest score of 185/8 in 50 overs. Chasing the target, Nepal was bowled out for 171 runs in 49.3 overs.
Prithu Baskota (c) of Nepal celebrates the wicket of Ryan Hunter of Ireland during the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2012 match between Nepal and Ireland at Endeavour Park on August 15, 2012 in Townsville, Australia. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock-ICC/Getty Images)
Ireland could not make good start as it lost top three wickets with just 35 runs on board.
Andy McBrine and Shane Getkate rescued Ireland with a 71-run fourth wicket partnership. McBrine was removed from the crease on 41 runs off 71 balls while Getkate scored 47 runs off 81 balls before giving away his wicket. Tyrone Kane was unbeaten on 39 runs off 49 balls.
Avinash Karrna, Prithu Baskota, Rahul BK and Bhuwan Karki grabbed two wickets each. As the Ireland batsmen had difficulties facing spinners, Nepali team captain Baskota used his all his spin bowlers.
Chasing the target, Nepal also could not get off to a good start despite changing the order of the batsmen. Regular opener Subash Khakurel was paired with middle order batsmen Sagar Pun to start the innings.
Nepal lost its first wicket with 22 runs on the board. Pun scored eight runs off 14 balls before being out. Naresh Budayair and Khakurel shared 21-run partnership for the second wicket. Budayair was trapped leg before by George Dockrell on five runs. Hasim Ansarii was also trapped leg before by Dockrell on the very next ball.
Rajesh Pulami Magar (6) was the next Nepali batsman to go. Skipper Baskota and Pradeep Airee shared 37-run partnership to give Nepal some hope in the run chase. Baskota however, was out on 20 runs off 60 balls.
Nepal needed to score 57 runs from last 13.3 overs with Pradeep Airee on the crease. But Airee was caught while playing a big shot. He scored 29 runs off 46 balls.
Rahul Vishwakarma of Nepal bats during the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2012 match between Nepal and Ireland at Endeavour Park on August 15, 2012 in Townsville, Australia. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock-ICC/Getty Images)
Nepal lost its eighth wicket on 133 runs as Bhuwan Karki (2) nicked the ball against Dockrell. Nepal´s run chase suffered a severe blow with the fall of Rahul BK in 45th over. BK who scored 32 runs off 44 balls shared 25-patnership with Avinash Karna. Karna was unbeaten on 14 runs.
Dockrell was the pick of the bowler as he grabbed four wickets in 10 overs conceding 22 runs. Adam Coughlan and Graeme McCarter took two wickets each while Tyrone Kane picked a wicket.
In other matches, Afghanistan and South Africa registered victories. Afghanistan defeated Scotland by 10 wickets while South Africa registered a four-wicket victory over Sri Lanka.
Batting first Afghanistan managed to score 191 runs losing all the wickets in 48.3 overs. Chasing the moderate total, Scotland was bowled out for 181 runs off 49.2 overs.
Inviting to bat first South Africa restricted Sri Lanka for 150 runs off 37.4 overs and successfully chased down the target in 33 overs losing six wickets.