Nepali cricket team is on the brink of its maiden T20 World Cup, with only Hong Kong standing between it and glory.
Wednesday’s clash against Hong Kong in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, UAE is the biggest match of the national squad in its 17-year history.
If Nepal wins the match, it will qualify for the T20 World Cup to be held in Bangladesh next year. The losing side will get another playoff opportunity to secure berth in the sporting extravaganza.
Nepal’s skipper Paras Khadka says his men will have to play to the best of their abilities if they are to defeat Hong Kong, which finished as Group A runner-up in the first round of the qualifiers.
“The dream of taking our team to the World Cup is just a game away. We have to give more than 100 percent for tomorrow [Wednesday]’s match,” said Khadka on the eve of the game.
“We cannot take Hong Kong lightly because they have been playing good game in their group matches,” he added.
After reaching this milestone, former captain Binod Das asserts that Nepal will not give a second chance to Hong Kong.
“Both Hong Kong and Nepal are on the same level but we can count on our superior batting for our success. We must not let this chance slip through our hands,” he said.
Unlike Nepal which finished third in the group phase to make it to the second round, Hong Kong was left cursing its fate for missing out on a World Cup spot, which was almost in its grasp.
Had it finished top of its group, Hong Kong would have already progressed to the finals but Ireland played the spoilsport defeating it by 85 runs for a disappointing second-place finish and a clash against Nepal.
This is the fifth meeting between the two teams, with both having won two matches each in the past four encounters.
Nepal had defeated Hong Kong by 28 runs in the last edition of the tournament but it avenged the defeat in the next meeting with a six-wicket victory over Nepal during the ACC T20 Cup held in Kathmandu seven months ago.
However, Nepal’s coach Pubudu Dassanayake is not bothered about the past records and is looking forward to Wednesday’s game with renewed enthusiasm.
“Hong Kong is a good team and we have the experience of playing against them. We know their strengths and weaknesses,” said Dassanayake.
“We have some game plans against them and we want to execute them to win the game and book our ticket to the T20 World Cup. We have to put in all our efforts to win the match,” he added.
Hong Kong has a slight advantage over Nepal as it played some of its group matches at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, while Nepal only reached the capital city from Dubai on Monday.
Nepal’s major problem during the qualifiers has been its batting glitches in the middle of the innings. Hong Kong’s spinners Munir Dar and Nadeem Ahmed could exploit this to their advantage and cause problems for Nepal.