Shakti Gauchan bowled a memorable spell to set up Nepal’s thumping 10-wicket victory over hosts Malaysia in the World Cricket League Division 4 at the Selangor Turf Club.
Shakti’s figure 10-8-2-3, the best economy in one-dayers between nations, helped Nepal bowl out Malaysia to 69 all out in 32.1 overs before Nepali openers Anil Mandal (41 not out) and Subash Khakurel (24 not out) raced to victory in 12.2 overs finishing the match before lunch.
Shakti Gauchan bowled 10-8-2-3 and grabbed man of the match. Photo: ICC/Peter Lim
Man of the match Shakti bowled 41 dot balls straight as Malaysia struggled after losing early wickets. Amrit Bhattarai grabbed two-in-two removing Rakesh Madhavan and S Alagaratnam in 5th over. Binod Das made it three-in-four-ball for pacers claiming wicket of H Ullah Khan (12) next over as Malaysia went down to 16/3.
Fromt hen on, Ahmed Faiz and Shafiq Sharif staged a minor recovery playing pacers with confidence and adding 36 runs for fourth wicket. But their recovery ended with introduced of spin.
Basant Regmi claimed Faiz (13) in his first over and Sharif (22) in his second to end the resistance. Then onward, Basant and Shakti combined to bowl 10 overs – from 21 to 30 – conceding only 5 runs.
Shakti took two-in-two in getting rid of KH Durrani and Nik Arifin in 21st over making it 60/8. The last two wickets fell successively – one each to off-spinner Sanjam Regmi and Basant as Malaysia ended with a lowly total.
Anil Mandal returns to form scoring unbeaten 41 after two failures. Photo: ICC/Peter Lim
Basant also needs a special mention as it was a hattrick of his three-wicket haul. He is at the top of the top wicket-takers in the tournament with 9 wickets. Amrit Bhattarai is jointly second with USA’s T Allen with 6 wickets each.
In other matches, USA beat Tanzania by 7 wickets chasing the target of 93 in 9 overs.
After third round of match, Nepal is atop the league table with 6 points and net run rate of +2.95.
Brief Score: Nepal 71/0 in 12.2 overs (Anil Mandal 41 not out, Subash Khakurel 24 not out) beat Malaysia 69 all out in 32.1 overs (Shakti Gauchan 3/2, Basant Regmi 3/12, Amrit Bhattarai 2/19, Sanjam Regmi 1/6, Binod Das 1/28) by 10 overs. Man of the Match: Shakti Gauchan