Monthly Archives: December 2013

Nepal avenged its ACC U-19 Elite Cup defeat against UAE by completing a four wickets consolation win in its last match of the ACC U-19 Asia Cup at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in UAE on Monday. Nepal, who had dealt with a maiden defeat against UAE in Malaysia, in May, bade farewell to the championship with reinstated pride following their successive heavy loses against Pakistan and India. Losing the toss and sent in to bowl first, Nepali bowlers ended their opponent innings before seven overs, constricting UAE in 159 runs. Sushan Bhari became pain in the neck for UAE batsmen as he finished with the figure of 4-34-0-9. Lalit Bhandari and Bhuvan Karki bagged three and two wickets respectively while… Read More

Nepal suffered elimination in the group stage of the ACC U-19 Asia Cup for the second consecutive time on Sunday after it lost to India by nine wickets in its second group match at the ICC Academy Ground in Dubai, UAE. Nepal had crashed out from the tournament in similar fashion in the last edition also, following heavy defeats against Pakistan and India. India reached the small target of 137 runs midway through the innings to inflict a second consecutive defeat on Nepal, which had suffered a 132-run defeat against Pakistan in its first match on Saturday. Indian openers Akhil Herwadkar and Vijay Zol punished the Nepali bowlers, dispatching the ball to all corners of the park with ease. Winning… Read More

Nepal suffered a heavy defeat in its ACC U-19 Asia Cup opener on Saturday as it went down against Pakistan by 132 runs at the ICC Academy Stadium in Dubai, UAE. Set a challenging target of 312 runs, Nepal could manage only 179 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the allotted 50 overs. Nepali batsmen had a difficult time dealing with a potent Pakistani bowling attack after Nepali bowlers had failed to contain the run-flow of Pakistan, whose openers laid the foundation for a big total. Opting to bat first after winning the toss, Pakistan made a flying start as opening batsman and skipper Sami Aslam, along with Hasan Raza, racked up 166 runs for the second wicket.… Read More

Nepal will lock horns with Pakistan on Saturday in the opening match of the ACC U-19 Asia Cup with a hope of upsetting the team from Test nation though the tournament itself looks like a Herculean task for young Nepali cricketers. Nepal used to dominate almost every age-group tournaments conducted by the Asian Cricket Council. However, it has already become a history and Nepal has not won single age group title since 2009. Participation of teams from Test nations makes the ACC U-19 Asia Cup more challenging for Nepal, which had crashed out from the group stage in the last edition of the tournament. Following the recent success of Nepali national cricket team, fans have started expecting high in every… Read More

Nepal cricket team maintained its winning streak in its Sri Lanka tour and registered a 16-run victory over Bloomfield Club in the fourth and the last practice match on Thursday. Nepal elected to bat and put up 246/8 in the allotted 50 overs as skipper Paras Khadka scored yet another half-century. In reply, Bloomfield was all out for 230 runs in 49.4 overs as pacer Sompal Kami and spinner Basant Regmi claimed three wickets each. Openers Subash Khakurel and Anil Mandal put up an 84-run partnership to give platform to excel to the other batsmen. Mandal scored 38 runs off 63 balls before departing in the 21st over. Khakurel (41 runs off 82 balls) and Gyanendra Malla (one run off… Read More

Incheon City in South Korea is gearing up to host the 17th Asian Games from September 19 to October 4 in 2014 and the Korean Cricket Association (KCA) has launched an ambitious project of preparing Korean national women’s team for the mega event. And, Nepal has reason to feel proud in this initiative since the KCA has chosen Nepal to give basic cricket lesson to its wanna-be lady cricketers. A Korean team, including 11 players, has arrived in Kathmandu early this week and six other girls are arriving in Kathmandu on Friday. “We are hosting Asian Games in 2014 and we want to prepare ladies team by then,” said Nasir Khan, the coach and administrator of the Incheon Cricket Association,… Read More

Nepali U-19 cricket team is all set to fly to the UAE on Thursday with an expectation of knocking down teams from Test nations in the ACC U-19 Asia Cup, where it is slated in the same group with India, Pakistan and the host. Captain Bhuwan Karki said that his team would not play any match as an underdog and could upset any team in the tournament that starts from December 28 and ends on January 4. “We respect every opponent but we are also not underdog. We can upset any team,” said Karki. “We will try to emulate the recent success of the national team,” he added. Karki claimed that his team is a well-balanced team. “We have talented… Read More

Brilliant batting from skipper Paras Khadka and good batting from Sagar Pun helped Nepal seal a two-wicket victory over Sri Lanka Ports Authority Cricket Club on Tuesday in the third practice match of the national team in Sri Lanka. The home team elected to bat first. Pun took four wickets as the Sri Lankan club was all out for 200 runs in 45.5 overs. In reply, skipper Khadka blasted 91 runs off 106 balls to guide Nepal to 204/8 with an over remaining. Chasing 201, Nepal got disastrous start as it lost opener Anil Mandal and Vice-captain Gyanendra Malla without scoring. Another opener Subash Khakurel also added only 10 runs off 22 balls. Nepal was at 20/3 in 7.1 runs.… Read More

Binod Bhandari’s blistering half-century guided Nepal to a two-wicket victory over Moors Sports Club on Friday in the second practice match of the national cricket team in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Nepal bowled out the top tier Sri Lankan club at 147/10 in 36.2 overs and met the target in 32.2 overs losing eight wickets. Nepal team is in Sri Lanka to prepare for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers to be held in New Zealand from January 16 to February 1, 2014. Nepal team will fly to New Zealand directly from Sri Lanka. Nepal has a plan to have some practice sessions and matches in New Zealand before playing the qualifiers. Chasing the small total, Nepal lost wickets in regular interval.… Read More

Nepal cricket team, which is in Sri Lanka for practice matches to prepare for the upcoming ICC World Cup Qualifiers, defeated top-tier local club, Colombo Colts, by four wickets on Sunday in its first match of the tour. Nepal bowled out Colts for 228 runs in 49.3 overs as skipper Paras Khadka and Avinash Karn took three wickets each. In reply, Nepal successfully chased the total with three overs and four wickets remaining as Subash Khakurel and Gyanendra Malla scored half centuries. Shehan Fernando scored 51 runs off 69 balls for the host team while Muthumudalge Pushpakumara added 37 runs off 46 balls. Aruna Darmasena (34 runs) and Akila Dananjaya (25 runs) were other major contributors for Colts. Nepali skipper… Read More

Nepal cricket team, which is all set to leave Kathmandu on Tuesday for practice matches in Sri Lanka, will play against the four first-class teams there. As per the itinerary, Nepal will take on Colts Cricket Club on Thursday and Moors Sports Club on Friday. Nepal will lock its horns with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority on December 24 and with Bloomfield Sports Club on December 26. In its 10-day stay in Sri Lanka Nepal will spend rest of the days in practice sessions. Nepal team will fly to New Zealand directly from Sri Lanka. Nepal has a plan to have some practice sessions and matches in New Zealand before playing ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers. The qualifiers will be… Read More

Century Bank on Monday announced the cash incentives for the members of national cricket team, based upon their performance in international tournaments in Kathmandu on Monday. As per the understanding, batsman hitting a century in each international matches will be awarded with Rs 100,000. Similarly, the batsmen completing half century, bowlers taking three wickets and completing a hat-trick will be awarded with Rs 50,000 each. The bank also felicitated the 15 members of the national team with the cash award of Rs 11,000 each to honor their feat of securing their place in the Twenty20 World Cup. Apart from the felicitation, Ashok Nath Pyakurel, General Secretary of Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) and Chief Executive Officer of Century Bank, Ganesh… Read More

The government felicitated the Nepal cricket team with the record-breaking cash award in Kathmandu on Monday. The chairman of interim election council, Khil Raj Regmi handed away the cash award of Rs 1,000,000 each to the 15 members of the national team, which booked their place for the ICC World T20 in Bangladesh, scheduled to kick-off in March, next year. Likewise, coach Pubudu Dassanayake was awarded with Rs 500,000 while team manager Purna Bahadur Lama, physio Subra, technical analyst Sriram Somayajula and assistant coach Dipendra Pratap Singh were awarded with Rs 350,000 each. Speaking at the felicitation program, organized in Singha Durbar, Regmi said that the award was the gesture of congratulation for the highest feat Nepal had attained in… Read More

Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) bagged a biggest international apparel sponsorship from Singa Steel in Kathmandu on Sunday. CAN President Tanka Angbuhang and Saad Khan Janjua, Managing director of the Singapore based company, signed a memorandum of understanding for the period of three years. The deal will be in effect from January 2014, after the completion of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualification in New Zealand. As per the understanding, Singa Steel, which is also the second biggest sports merchandise producing company, will sponsor all the cricket equipments and apparels, contributing Rs 10,000,000 each year until the tenure of sponsorship. Speaking at the press meet, Janjua, who is also the skipper of Singapore national team, said that the sponsorship venture… Read More

The task force formed by National Sports Council (NSC) submitted its report on the short-term plans that carries a budget of Rs 38.34 million to prepare Nepal cricket team for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers and the ICC World T20. The NSC had formed a task force headed by its Sports Development Department Chief Prakash Chandra Ghimire last week to submit report on things to be done to prepare team for the World Cup Qualifiers to be held in New Zealand in January 2014 and World T20 to be held in Bangladesh in March 2014. The task force has suggested NSC to renovate gym hall and practice nets at the TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur immediately. Likewise, the task… Read More

National Life Insurance Company Limited announced life insurance policies of Rs 1 million each to all the current national cricketers while its sister organization, NLG Insurance, announced accidental insurance policies of Rs 500,000 to each player. National Life Insurance Chairperson Prema Singh and Director Kush Prasad Malli handed over policy certificates to the cricketers present in a special program organized to honor the national team that qualified for the ICC World T20. “We are well aware of our corporate social responsibility and we are happy to honor the cricketers,” said Singh. “It is a gesture of honoring heroes and encouraging them for the further success,” she added. Singh handed over the main copy of the insurance policies to the Cricket… Read More

Young pacer Sompal Kami earned a place in the national squad for the first time and all-rounder Prithu Baskota returned into the team as Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) announced a 15-member Nepali team on Sunday for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers to be held in New Zealand from January 13 to February 1, 2014. As Kami and Baskota are included in the team, CAN has considered pacer Amrit Bhattarai and spinner Rahul Viswakarma only as reserved players. Besides, the two changes CAN has retained all the other players, who were in the team that qualified for the ICC World T20 from the qualifiers held in the UAE. Kami has mad a reputation of a good pacer from the… Read More

Avenging the defeat suffered in the group rounds, Air India overcame Nepal by five wickets on Saturday in the final of Sagarmatha Cement Journey To World Cup, a cricket tournament organized with the view to prepare Nepal for the ICC World Cup Qualifiers, at the TU Ground, Kirtipur. The visiting team was defeated by five wickets in the group round match at the same venue on Monday. Put to bat first after losing the toss on Saturday, Nepal scored 264/8 in the 45 over match. In the run chase, Air India made 279 with 10 balls to spare, losing five wickets. As Nepal had lost three wickets for 93 runs in 21.1 over, skipper Paras Khadka partnered with Binod Bhandari… Read More

National Sports Council (NSC) formed a five-member task-force to submit report on things to be done to prepare Nepal cricket team for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers to be held in New Zealand in January 2014 and ICC World T20 to be held in Bangladesh in March 2014. NSC formed the task-force headed by its Sports Development Department Chief Prakash Chandra Ghimire after a meeting on Friday with concerned authorities and the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Under-Secretary at Youth and Sports Ministry Ram Bahadur Hamal, Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) Member Sanjib Pandey, Cricket Chief-coach at NSC Jagat Tamata and Engineer at NSC Biswamitra Sanjyal are the member of the task-force. NSC has asked the task-force to… Read More

Nepal registered a huge 227-run victory over Singapore on Friday to set up final with Air India in the Sagarmatha Cement Journey to World Cup Cricket tournament, organized to help Nepal’s preparation for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers. Singapore won the toss at the TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur and put Nepal into batting. Nepal put up a mammoth total of 313/5 in allotted 45 overs as Sharad Vesawkar blasted 91 runs off just 45 balls. In reply, Singapore was all out for mere 86 runs as pacer Som Pal Kami and veteran spinner Raj Kumar Pradhan claimed three wickets each. Nepali openers Subash Khakurel and Anil Mandal produced a 125-run partnership and gave a platform to the rest… Read More

Captain of Nepal cricket team Paras Khadka got busy signing autographs after a program at the Ministry of Health and Population on Thursday, where he was named the national champion for 1000 Golden Days and Handwashing with Soap. People seeking autographs came from different walks of life — from teenage boys to already established development workers. “You gave us reason to smile,” almost everybody had the same thing to say. Thursday´s program was just one of those that Khadka and his teammates have been a part of, after coming home from the ICC World T20 Qualifiers in the UAE, where they qualified for World T20 2014. Cricket Association of Nepal gave them a grand welcome at TribhuvanInternationalAirport and organized a… Read More