Skipper Paras Khadka shone with both bat and ball to give Nepal a much-needed win in its third match of ICC World Cricket League Division Three against host Bermuda at St David’s Cricket Club, Wednesday night.
Winning the toss and electing to field first, Nepal skitteld the home team for a meager 106 in 38.2 overs, with Khadka claiming four crucial wickets. In reply, Nepal raced to the winning target of 107, losing two wickets in just 11.2 overs, handing Bermuda an eight-wicket defeat.
In Nepal’s run chase, Khadka smashed a fiery 46 off 27 balls, including four boundaries and three sixes, in a 72-run unbroken third wicket stand with his deputy Gyanendra Malla, who hit 34 off 20 balls, with five fours and a six.
Openers Subash Khakurel (6) and Anil Mandal (16) were the two wickets that Nepal lost. Both of them fell to Bermuda bowler Rodney Trott.
For Bermuda, Steven Outerbridge top scored with 29, while David Hemp made 16. Curt stovel and Malachi Jones made equal 15 runs, whereas Chris Douglas contributed 12 runs. Besides, no other batsmen could make it to the double digits.
The host had a mediocre start and was once in a good position with 73 runs on board with just two wickets down, before losing the remaining eight wickets for another 33 runs.
Apart from Khadka, Basanta Regmi took three wickets to restrict the Caribbean nation to a low score. Chandra Saud, Sanjam Regmi and Shakti Gauchan took one wicket each. Khadka was adjudged man of the match for his brilliant all-round performance.
Nepal was in a must-win situation in the match after it had suffered a 94-run defeat at hands of the USA in the opening match and losing its second match to Uganda by six wickets.
“We were due for it. It was sad that we could not live up to our potential in the first two games, but anyway, we picked up in this game. We still have a long way to go, a couple more games, so we just need to go there and win convincingly,” said Nepali captain Khadka.
With two matches left in the group stage, Khadka believes his team will keep on improving. “It’s still not the end of the tournament for us. We still have two games to look forward to. We will take it one game at a time. We will go out there and go for the win. There is no alternative for us,” said Khadka.
Upon the completion of the league, the top two sides will advance to Division 2, which also means the teams will be eligible for 2014 World Cup Qualifiers, while the bottom two teams will face relegation to Division 4. Considering the current standing, Nepal has only a slim and mathematical prospect for qualification.
The USA and Uganda, which are undefeated in the first three matches, are on top two positions respectively.
Oman, Nepal and host Bermuda, all of whom suffered two losses and secured a win each, have equal two points. Oman is placed third, Nepal the fourth and host Bermuda the fifth based on net run rate. Win-less Italy is at the bottom on the points table.