Oman relieved Nepal out of misery at the ACC T20 Cup, beating them by 2 runs to emerge as the winner of third-place play-off, at the Tribhuvan University Ground in Kathmandu.
Generally, the third place play-off is a drab affair, and is taken as the competition to find who is worse of the two losing semi-finalists. But it could have been an opportunity for Nepali team to stamp some authority.
However, the hosts failed to do that. This was also the first match that Roy Dias was fielding a side against the team he had coached earlier. Not many have forgotten that Dias was Nepal coach and has been out of the country for only a year, after staying with the side for 9 years.
Oman Team. Photo by PhotoEverest.com
The match was reduced to a 15-over-a-side affair, due to haze and dew on the ground. Sent to field, Nepali bowlers were not able to restrict the Oman batsmen initially, giving away 11 runs in the first over itself.
First seven overs produced 50 runs and brought down 2 overs. Oman appeared surging to a big score, but some senseless batting and Mehboob Aalam made sure the score remained at 101 for 8.
Interestingly, only two batsmen from Oman had a strike rate of over 100. Opener Zeeshan Siddiqui, with 22 off 12, and Awal Khan, with 18 off 11, toyed with Nepali bowling during their brief stay at the crease. Aalam finished with 4 wickets in his 3 overs.
Nepali side changed its batting line up, sending Pradip Airee with Subhash Khakurel to open the innings, with the hope to quicken run rate at the top of the order. But by the time both the openers were back, exactly halfway through the innings, the score read 46.
Things went wrong as Aalam was out the next ball. Amazingly, the middle order did not try to force and push the run rate and left too many runs for last few overs.
Little short! Nepali batting effort was not enough as Nepal lost to Oman by 2 runs. Photo by PhotoEverest.com
Wickets at regular intervals meant that the runs dried up and the hosts fell short of target by 2 runs.
For Oman, Amir Khaleem bowled miserly and gave away 11 runs in his 3 overs and took the wickets of Subhash Khakurel, Mehboob Aalam and Paras Khadka. Airee opened the batting and scored 20 runs off 22, which remained the highest of the match.
It was a heart wrenching defeat for the hosts in front of the home crowd, who still appeared in a couple of thousands for their team.
Coach Pubudu Dassanayake appeared sad following the match and admitted that the match changed its course after the dismissal of Paras Khadka and Prithu Baskota.
He said that the team would need ‘some changes’ but did not elaborate on any ‘specific area’.
The tournament has shown the weaknesses of the team in the shortest format of the game. Most of it has been the lack of application.
Oman manager kisses Man of the Match after the victory over Nepal in the 3rd Place Playoff of ACC T20 Cup. Photo by PhotoEverest.com
The team’s misery was apparent as the captain of the side, Paras Khadka, did not even show up at the presentation ceremony after the match. He probably knew, it was not going to be his teammate. And, the award went to Aamir Kaleem.
On the sidelines, the former coach, Roy Dias, was all smiles for his new team.
Brief Scorecard: Oman 101 for 8 in 16 overs (Z Siddiqui 22, J Singh 20, A Khan 18, M Alam 4/22) lost to Nepal 99 for 9 in 16 overs (P Airee 20, S Khakurel 19, P Baskota 14, A Kaleem 3/11, H Mehta 2/16, A Ali 2/18) by 2 runs. MoM: Aamir Kaleem (Oman)
Cricket Nepal (cricket.com.np) provided live scores and commentary for the match. Click ‘Replay’ below to read the live commentaries.