Cricket Nepal (Archive)

As Nepali national cricket team is all set to leave Kathmandu on Sunday for the ICC World T20 Qualifiers to be held in the UAE from next week, skipper Paras Khadka defines the tournament as an opportunity rather than a challenge for his team.

It is only the way for Nepal to reach World T20 to be held in Bangladesh in 2014.  The participating 16 teams are slated in two groups for the qualifiers. The winners of both the groups will directly qualify for the World T20 while teams within top five in each group get into the second round of the qualifiers. Top six teams of the qualifiers will get tickets to Bangladesh.

In this circumstances coach Pubudu Dassanayake aims to top the group and qualify directly to the World T20. “My target is to top the group and right away qualify for the world cup,” said Dassanayake.

Nepal is slatted in the group B of the qualifiers along with Afghanistan, Scotland, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Kenya, Bermuda and Denmark.

“We are in the tough group as there are four teams with ODI status. Afghanistan looks to be the strongest,” said Dassanayake. “However, we had lost to Afghanistan by only three runs in the last encounter. We are at their level and we want keep the level and better it,” he added.

Dassanayake is well aware about the preparations done by the opponents but equally happy with his own team.

“All the teams have been preparing very well but important part is how we start the tournament. We take one game at a time and hope for winning start in the qualifiers,” said Dassanayake.

Dassanayake said that the preparation works in the last four months gave him the confidence to excel. “We have been working for last three to four months. Every plan went accordingly. Boys are fit. We are really keen to go, perform and prove that we belong to that level,” said Dassanayake.

“I would have still loved to have little bit of longer preparation outside the country but no complain. We have bunch of players working morning to evening to do well,” he added.

According to Dassanayake, Pradeep Airee and Subash Khakurel will open Nepali innings in Dubai. “We tried out different combinations during the India tour to try and see different players at different role. Now, Pradeep and Subash are going to take opening duty,” said the coach.

When asked about Nepali batting line-up and growing concern following the short knocks of Nepali batsmen during the India tour, Dassanayake argued that he has a settled T20 batting line-up. “Everyone had short knocks in India. But in T20 format, their roles could be short but they should be sharp and click in the right time. We have an experience middle order and a balance team,” claimed Dassanayake.

Besides spin attack, the regular strength of Nepali side, Dassanayake is expecting good performance from Nepali pacers — Amrit Bhattarai, Jitendra Mukhiya and Avinash Karn. “All three have improved. They are capable of doing well. I believe they are very well aware about their roles in the team,” said Dassanayake.

Nepal will take on Denmark on November 15 in its first match of the qualifiers. Nepal will then lock horns with Kenya on Nov 16, Scotland on Nov 18, PNG on Nov 19, the Netherlands on Nov 20, Afghanistan on Nov 22 and Bermuda on Nov 23.

Region No 7 (Janakpur) registered a thrilling one-wicket victory over Region No 8 (Pokhara) in the opening match of the Wai Wai U-19 National Cricket Tournament on Friday.

Pokhara elected to bat and was all out for 141 runs in 36.4 overs. In reply, Janakpur reached the target in 37.4 overs losing nine wickets.

At the Pulchowk Engineering Cricket Ground, Pokhareli openers Sanjosh Bhattarai (16 runs) and Manoj Koirala (21 runs) put up a 44-run partnership. Even though other batsmen failed against the bowling attack of Janakpur, Dhurba Karki scored 47 runs off 60 balls to guide Pokhara to a respectable total.

Abhishek Jha took four wickets while Gopal Singh, Rahul Pratap Singh and Hari Shankar Sah claimed two wickets each.

In chasing the total, Janakpur suffered hiccups as it lost opener Sanjeet Pandey and Chandan Jha cheaply. Another opener Hari Shankar Shah scored 18 runs off 21 balls. However, a 40-run partnership between Ansaj Upadhyay (21 runs) and skipper Rahul Pratap Singh for the fifth wicket and another 28-run partnership between Singh and Sameer Nepal (14 runs) gave Janakpur a hope. Singh garnered 38 runs off 59 balls. Janakpur lost a couple of wickets in quick succession again but Kailash Mandal chipped in with unbeaten nine runs of 13 balls to seal thrilling one-wicket victory.

Janakpur skipper Singh was awarded man-of-the-match for his all round performance.

Janakpur will lock horns with Region No 4 (Bhairahawa) at TU Cricket Ground on Saturday while Region No 5 (Nepalgunj) will take on Region No 9 (Mahendranagar) at the Pulchowk Engineering Cricket Ground.

With only 10 days remaining for Nepal team to go for World T20 Cup Qualifiers in UAE, it could not train on Friday as the ground was not available for the players. The team was scheduled to train at the TU grounds, Kirtipur.
Wai Wai U-19 Regional Selection of Region no 3 was being held at the ground. At the same time, the wicket was also not in a condition for net practice either. The team had no other option than to conduct physical training and remain as the spectators at the U-19 selection match.
The team returned home on Wednesday after 10-day long Delhi tour to prepare for the qualifiers. It was planning to conduct some important strategic training at home, something that they could not do in Indian capital.
The disappointment of Skipper Paras Khadka and the other members of the team could be seen on their face. The International Cricket Council (ICC) had slapped a fine of USD 84,000 last month, owing to ‘mismanagement’ of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN).
Khadka could not hide his disappointment to the cricket governing body of the nation and expressed his frustration at the TU ground Friday.
Paras Khadka’s take on CAN
We have been giving our best in the training for last two months and CAN has also been supportive to us, but not sufficiently supportive. India tour was better than last tour, but not up to our expectations. Opponents of last two games were not our match.
We have only 10 days before we leave for UAE and the practice will hardly be of four or five days. In such scenario we do not have ground for training and not even wicket. Even the wicket for net practice is not ready.

Nepali National team sits on the boundary watching U-19 regional cricket tournament. They didn’t get to train properly.
Photo: Bikas Karki

We had informed CAN two days before leaving Delhi that we needed training ground from November 1. But we are not getting ground for practice before we leave for World T20 Qualifiers.
We are doing our best, but such incidents demoralize us. The basic needs for practice should be fulfilled first.
I think there is communication gap in CAN. I heard it was recently imposed a fine of Rs 8.3 million for not submitting financial report on time. If the players do not perform well, they are thrown out of the team. Similarly, if office bearers of CAN cannot work properly they should resign or work properly.
As far as I know there are more than 30 members in CAN. But I have not seen more than half a dozen members fulfilling their duty properly. CAN members should be responsible.
Once we were in Division 5 and now in Division 2. But as a player I have felt no difference either in players lifestyle or in training facility.
I can feel disappointment in coach as well. As a coach he is giving his best. As he is on contract he cannot take every decision. We have reached this level due to our own hard work, thus we don’t need to lie. We are trying to look for our future in cricket. But such incidents harass players.
This is not the first time we are facing such incident and we are used to these things. Only those who have idea about cricket know that Nepali cricket has reached this far due to effort of players.

Sanjiv Pandey, Member CAN and High Performance Program
We had Delhi tour until November 5, but we returned home early due to technical reasons. We are conducting U-19 tournament as per our plans of enhancing youth cricket and the tournament is conducted with this purpose. The team could not train due to this very reason today. But the ground will be available for training from tomorrow.
The U-19 tournament will be shifted to Bhaktapur from tomorrow (Saturday). The ground curator has informed that at least three days will be needed to prepare wicket. We had informed them about needing wickets on October 29th.
Though I am too not fully satisfied with the Delhi tour it does not mean that we played with weaker side only. The first four matches we played were against strong teams. Just because we beat them, it does not mean that they are weak. They have said that our standard has increased.

Dhangadhi Cricket Academy (DCA) wrapped up its Sri Lanka tour on Monday with four wins and five defeats in friendly matches.

DCA was beaten in its ninth and final match on Monday, losing to host Ravi Puchihawa Cricket Academy (RPCA) by 42 runs in Matale, the administrative capital of the Central Province of Sri Lanka.

RPCA won the toss and elected to bat on its home ground at the Bernard Cricket Stadium. The hosts were all out for 138 in 19 overs. Altaf Mohammad scored 27 runs for RPCA while Gihan Herath added 20. Tekendra Khadka, Aashutosh Kunwar and Amar Panthi took two wickets each for DCA.

Chasing a target of 139, DCA was packed for just 96 runs. Nuren Ansari top scored with 34 runs for DCA.  DCA skipper Dipendra Thapa was named man-of-the-series for scoring 223 runs throughout the tour and taking five wickets. Roshan Adhikhari (194 runs) and Aashutosh Kunwar (18 wickets) were declared the best batsman and best bowler.

This tour was the first ever overseas trip for a Nepali cricket club. DCA President Subash Shahi said that the tour was fruitful as the players got opportunity to learn a lot from their Sri Lankan counterparts.

Nepali national team registered a convincing 55-run win over DCA, Ghaziabad in T20 practice match. Nepali team is in Indian capital to to prepare for the Qualifiers of World T20 Cup to be held from November 15 to 30 in UAE.

Nepali batsmen came up with much improved performance at the Nehru Cricket Stadium in Ghaziabad. Nepali batsmen put up 144 for 8 after electing to bat first and bowled out the local team for 89 in 17.4 overs.

Nepali Team after victory against DCA, Ghaziabad. Photo: Raman Shiwakoti

Opening pair of Mahesh Chhetri (22) and Pradeep Aire (39) put up 59-run stand for the first wicket before Airee was trapped leg before in last ball of 8th over after facing 26 deliveries. Airee, the topscorer for Nepal, hit 39 runs off 33 balls with eight boundaries. Chhetri was stumped in the last ball of the 11th over after scoring 22 off 26 balls.
Gyanendra Malla scored briskly, and made 32 off 23 that included four boundaries. Rahul Bishwakarma contributed 24 off 22. Skipper Paras Khadka, Sharad Vesawkar and Anil Mandal could not get into double figures. Shakti Gauchan remained unbeaten at 7.

Asif Masnuri was the pick of Indian bowling with four wickets. Gaurav Tomar and Sanjeev Singh took two wickets apiece. In the home team’s run chase, opener Aadil Raza (22), skipper Gaurav Tomar (17), Shivendra Paul (11) and Nandu Tyagi (11) crossed double figures but could not sustain the momentum.

Nepali bowler Avinash Karna bagged three wickets while Jitendra Mukhiya and Rahul Bishwakarma took two wickets each.

Nepal will play its next match against Invitational XI at Bharatnagar Academy Ground on Tuesday.

Nepal has been drawn in Group B of the World T20 qualifiers along with Afghanistan, Scotland, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Kenya, Bermuda and Denmark. The top six teams of the qualifiers will progress to the World T20 2014 to be held in Bangladesh.

Nepali national cricket team defeated Indian Railways by 5 runs, in it’s practice tour to the Indian capital, at at the Roshanara Club ground.

Put to bat first, Nepal scored 135 for 9 in the T20 match and restricted Indian Railways at 132 for 7. Binod Bhandari scored the highest 42 off 35 with five hits to the fence. Gyanendra Malla scored 31 off 34. Opener Subash Khakurel (13), Sagar Pun (15), skipper Paras Khadka (5), Basanta Regmi (12), Sharad Vesawakar (4) and Pradeep Aire (11) contributed for Nepal.

Subash Khakurel and Sagar Pun enter the ground, as Nepal was put in to bat by Indian Railway team. Photo: Raman Shivakoti

For Indian Railway, Karan Thakur and Hitesh Kadam claimed three wickets apiece while Shamshul Huda claimed two and Prashant Awasti took one wicket.

In the run chase, Hemant Singh’s 82 off 64 went in vain for Indian Railway. Singh was caught by Malla in the 20th over. Pankaj Chaudhary (25) was the only other batsman for Indian Railway to reach double figure.

Nepal’s Gauchan and Bhattarai pocketed two wickets apiece while Jitendra Mukhiya and Khadka took one wicket each.

Nepal will play its next match against Invitational XI at the Bharatnagar Academy ground on Monday. Nepal is in India to prepare for the World T20 Qualifiers, which will be held in UAE in November and ICC World Cup Qualifiers to be held in New Zealand in January 2014.

Nepali national cricket team sealed second victory over Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) U-25 team on Wednesday in its practice tour to India. Nepal defeated DDCA U-25 by five wickets on Wednesday at the Roshanara Club Ground, Delhi. Nepal had lost its first match against the same team by four wickets on Monday but won the second match by 36 runs on Tuesday.

Nepal elected to field first and restricted DDCA U-25 at 123/6 in the T20 match. Nepal met the target in 19.4 overs losing only five wickets.

Nipun Malhotra scored 25 runs off 25 balls while Akarshit Gomil added 24 runs off 17 balls. Ankur Julka (19 runs), Kuldeep Rawat (unbeaten 19 runs), Jaideep Chauhan (15 runs) were the other contributors for DDCA U-25.

Sagar Pun claimed two wickets while Amrit Bhattarai, Avinash Karn, Paras Khadka and Shakti Gauchan took a wicket each.

Chasing the total, Nepal lost opener Subash Khakurel in the very first ball of the innings. Another opener Pun garnered 19 runs off 27 balls. Binod Bhandari blasted unbeaten 26 runs off 14 balls while Pradeep Airee garnered 26 runs off 31 balls. Skipper Paras Khadka added 23 runs off 21 balls while Gyanendra Malla scored 18 runs off 24 balls. Sharad Vesawkar remained unbeaten with six runs off a ball.

Kuldeep Rawat and Puneet Mehra claimed two wickets each while Abhishek Sharma took a wicket.

In the next practice match, Nepal will take on Railways XI on Friday at the Roshanara Club Ground.The Nepali team is scheduled to play seven practice matches during its Delhi tour.

Nepal is touring the Indian capital as part of preparations for the upcoming ICC World T20 Qualifiers to be held in the United Arab Emirates from November 15 to 30. Nepal has been drawn in Group B of the qualifiers along with Afghanistan, Scotland, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Kenya, Bermuda and Denmark.
The top six teams of the qualifiers will progress to the World T20 2014 to be held in Bangladesh.

Skipper Paras Khadka blasted 80 runs as Nepali national cricket team defeated Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) U-25 team by 36 runs on Tuesday in its second practice match in the India tour. DDCA U-25 had defeated Nepal by four wickets in the first match on Monday.

DDCA U-25 elected to field first at the Roshanara Club Ground, Delhi. Nepal put up 148/6 in allotted 20 overs and restricted DDCA U-25 at 112/9.

Toss (Photo Courtesy: CAN)

Opener Sagar Pun failed to open his account while Subash Khakurel put up 25 runs off 17 balls. Pradeep Airee added 12 runs off 14 balls and Gyanendra Malla garnered 13 runs off 13 balls. However, skipper Khadka anchored and boosted the Nepali innings by clobbering 80 runs off 58 balls. Khadka hit seven boundaries and a six. Khadka was run out in the penultimate ball of the innings. Binod Bhandari scored six runs while Sharad Vesawkar remained unbeaten with six runs.

Abhishek Bhatti took three wickets while Rishij Saini and Manoj Chouhan claimed a wicket each.

Sagar Pun claimed four wickets and Jitendra Mukhiya took three not to let DDCA batsmen to settle and anchor the innings. Basant Regmi dismissed two DDCA batsmen to seal the win.

Openers Mohit Sharma (19 runs) and Shaurabh Pasi (16 runs) put up 35 run partnership. Milind Kumar added 18 runs off 17 balls in the middle while rest of the middle order failed to reach double-digit scores. Tail-ender Nitesh Lochabh tried to bring DDCA U-25 back in the game scoring 26 runs off 17 balls but Mukhiya claimed his wicket in the first ball of the 19th over.

Nepal and DDCA U-25 will play their third match on Wednesday at the Roshanara Club Ground.

The Nepali team is scheduled to play seven practice matches during its Delhi tour.
Nepal is touring the Indian capital as part of preparations for the upcoming ICC World T20 Qualifiers to be held in the United Arab Emirates from November 15 to 30. Nepal has been drawn in Group B of the qualifiers along with Afghanistan, Scotland, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Kenya, Bermuda and Denmark.
The top six teams of the qualifiers will progress to the World T20 2014 to be held in Bangladesh.

Nepali national cricket team suffered a loss in first practice match of its India tour as U-25 team of Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) defeated it by four wickets on Monday at the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi.

DDCA U-25 elected to field and restricted Nepal at 137/5 in allotted 20 overs. Opener Sagar Pun scored only three runs but another opener Subash Khakurel and Gyanendra Malla put up a 77-run partnership for the second wicket. Malla garnered 26 runs off 33 balls. However, Varun Sood claimed both the wickets of Malla and Khakurel in the 13th over. Khakurel clobbered 45 runs off 40 balls before getting out. Khakurel hit five boundaries and a six.

Captain Paras Khadka blasted unbeaten 39 runs off 26 balls including three boundaries and two sixes. Binod Bhandari added 11 runs off 12 ball and Sharad Vesawkar scored six runs off eight balls. Vesawkar was short to the crease in the last ball of the innings.

Besides Sood, Vikram Dahiya and Yogesh Nagar claimed a wicket each.

Chasing the modest total, DDCA U-25 reached the target with five balls remaining and by losing six wickets. Opener Dhruv Shorey remained unbeaten with 73 runs off 46 balls to seal the victory. Shorey clobbered 12 boundaries and a six. Pawan Negi hit 26 runs off 16 balls and Aditya Kaushik scored 15 runs off 16 balls.

Jitendra Mukhiya and Basant Regmi took two wickets each for Nepal while skipper Khadka claimed a wicket and involved in a run-out.

Nepal will take on the same team at the Roshanara Club Ground on Tuesday. Nepal is scheduled to play seven practice matches in its Delhi tour.

Nepal has been touring the Indian capital in its preparation bid for the upcoming ICC World T20 Qualifiers to be held in the UAE from November 15 to 30. Nepal is slatted in the group B of the qualifiers along with Afghanistan, Scotland, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Kenya, Bermuda and Denmark.

The top six teams of the qualifiers will progress to World T20 2014 to be held in Bangladesh.

A 24-member U-17 cricket team of Dhangadhi Cricket Academy (DCA), the first cricket academy of Far Western Region, left for Sri Lanka on Thursday to play friendly matches in Sri Lanka. DCA is the first non-national team of Nepal to tour Sri Lanka.

DCA team, consisting of 17 players and seven officials, will play nine matches with the age group teams of different Sri Lankan clubs. According to DCA President Subash Shahi, the tour was arranged under the initiation of national team coach Pubudu Dassanayake. “The tour will be vital in establishing relation with Sri Lankan cricket,” said Shahi during the farewell program held at Dhangadhi on Thursday. “Lack of exposure is a major problem of Nepali cricket. Thus we have tried to overcome the problem,” he added.

DCA was set up a year ago and has been recognized as the first branch of NationalCricketAcademy run by Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN).

International Cricket Council (ICC) has ultimately slapped a fine of $ 84000 (approx Rs 8.3 million) on Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) for not submitting quarterly financial reports.

ICC had warned Nepal of action in August after the association failed to submit financial reports for the last quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013 on time.

CAN had sent the financial report for the last quarter of 2012 in May whereas it should have been submitted by the end of January. Asian Cricket Council (ACC) had asked ICC to take action against Nepal.

CAN had appealed to ICC and ACC not to take action but they did not respond to the plea.

CAN Vice-president Keshav Ghimire confirmed the report and said that it was a setback for the Nepali cricket.

“Primarily, it´s the duty of general secretary to take care of office duties. We had asked him even during the general assembly to submit reports on time and to lobby for avoiding possible action,” said Ghimire. “Our president had also asked him to go to ICC and ACC headquarters to solve the problem. However, he was reluctant,” alleged Ghimire.

CAN General Secretary Ashok Nath Pyakuryal could not be reached for comments despite several phone calls.

ICC provides $160,000 for administrative expenses and $175,000 annually for capital and development expenditure to CAN. As ICC stood by the decision, it has deducted the amount from its regular financial assistance.

Earlier, ICC had decided to fine CAN 10 percent of the capital and development fund in 2012 for the same reason but it had withdrawn the decision after an appeal by CAN. ACC had then sent its representative to Kathmandu to train CAN officials to prepare the reports.

CAN President Tanka Angbuhang only said that he was busy in his election campaign in Taplejung. Angbuhang is a UCPN (Maoist) candidate for Taplejung-2.

Earlier in August, Angbuhang had claimed that the letter from ICC to CAN about “possible action” was sent because of communication error. “They opened our email on the financial report only after two months and they have already admitted their mistake,” Angbuhang had claimed. He, had also claimed that ICC had agreed to remove Nepal from the list of countries not submitting financial reports on time.

(Source: REPUBLICA)

Medium pacer Jitendra Mukhiya got a fresh call and wicketkeeper batsman Mahesh Chhetri made a comeback after two years as Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) announced a 15-member squad on Thursday for the ICC World T20 Qualifiers to be held in November in the UAE.

Amrit Bhattarai, who was dropped during the ACC Emerging Teams Cup held in Singapore, also retained his place in the T20 squad.

All-rounder Prithu Banskota, medium pacers Ram Naresh Giri and Chandra Sawad, who were in the team in Singapore, are not included in the list of final 15 for the T20 Qualifiers. Banskota is undergoing a treatment and rehabilitation program after picking knee injury last month while Giri and Sawad are considered only as reserved players.

Chetri, who was not in the national team for any format since playing the ACC T20 Cup in 2011, made a comeback in the squad after putting up man-of-the-series performance in the recently concluded National T20 Tournament.

The 15-member squad led by captain Paras Khadka includes Gyanendra Malla as vice-captain. Sharad Veshawkar, Shakti Gauchan, Basant Regmi, Rahul Vishwakarma, Binod Bhandari, Pradeep Airee, Anil Mandal, Sagar Pun, Subash Khakurel and Avinash Karn are the other members of the team.

Naresh Bahadur Budhayer and Bhuwan Karki are considered only as reserved players.

Australian batting coach Chris Harris said that he found the Nepali national cricket team professional and he expected it to qualify for the World T20 and the Cricket World Cup.

Harris, who is hired by the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) for a 10-day-long special training for the national team, at a press conference on Wednesday said he was surprised to see the batting capabilities of Nepali players.

“I’m waiting for the upcoming tournaments with my fingers crossed. And, I expect good batting performance by the Nepali team in New Zealand,” said Harris, who will return to Australia on Friday.

According to Harris, he talked about batting in T20 format as well as One-Day matches. “We even utilized rainy day by conducting theory sessions,” he added.
Harris said that Nepali batsmen have problems playing backfoot shots, pull shots and full-length deliveries pitched on middle stump. “They are used to hitting full-length deliveries to square leg and mid-wicket regions and I gave them tips on hitting to mid-on. They have to adjust shots in different wicket conditions,” explained Harris.

Harris denied that Nepali batsmen are vulnerable while facing genuine pace attack. “Technically they are not vulnerable,” said Harris, adding that they need more exposure.

“I’ve very high expectations from this team in New Zealand. We have worked here on a concrete pitch, which is very bouncy and suits the condition of New Zealand wicket,” he added.

Harris said that Nepali batsmen are adept at whipping the ball to square leg and playing cut shots. “They are fluent and they need minor improvement,” said Harris.

Romesh Kaluarachchi, a first class Sri Lankan fast bowler, said he found talented players in the Nepali team. “We are here to help them and we wish them to do their best in the World T20 Qualifiers,” he said.

Four Sri Lankan bowlers are in Kathmandu to help Nepali bowlers for the upcoming tournaments.Nepal is scheduled to play the World T20 Qualifiers in the United Arab Emirates in November and the Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in New Zealand in January 2014.

The CAN has been running High Performance Program (HPP) to prepare the Nepali national team for both the tournaments. Harris and the four Sri Lankan bowlers have been invited by the CAN under the program.

Practice matches in Australia

Nepali national team will play some practice matches in Australia ahead of the Cricket World Cup Qualifiers.

“Nepali team will play some practice matches in Victoria in Australia ahead of the qualifiers. Chris [Harris] has made all the arrangements,” said Nepali team manager Purna Lama.

Nepali team is also scheduled to play practice matches in Delhi, India before the World T20 Qualifiers. According to CAN, Nepali team will play altogether seven matches in India — three against Delhi District Cricket Association, two against Railways Cricket Team and two other matches against local teams.

Nepal Army made memorable debut in domestic cricket as it lifted the Pepsi Standard Chartered T20 National Cricket Tournament title defeating defending champion Armed Police Force (APF) by five wickets at the TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur on Friday.

After its commencement in 2066 BS, the tournament has always found new winner and Army’s victory on Friday maintained it. Region No 3 (Kathmandu) had won the tournament in 2066 BS and then Region No 1 (Biratnagar), Nepal Police and Armed Police Force had emerged as winner in the following editions.

Winner Nepal Army received Rs 125,000 and runner-up APF got Rs 75,000.

Nepal Army team with trophy.

APF elected to bat and put up 112/7 in allotted 16 overs. The match was reduced to 16 overs in each innings due to rain. Chandra Sawad and Rahul Vishwakarma dismissed two APF batsmen each while Aviash Karn, Rajesh Pulami and Sagar Pun claimed a wicket each.

APF failed to build partnership. Openers Paresh Lohani (nine runs off 18 balls) and Subash Khakurel (14 runs off nine balls) put up a 26-run partnership, one of the biggest of the innings. Likewise, Pradeep Airee and captain Paras Khadka (16 runs off nine balls) put up another 26-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Airee garnered 27 runs off 31 balls. Sharad Vesawkar (12 runs) and Dipendra Chaudhary (unbeaten 19 runs) were other contributors for APF.

In reply, Army reached 116/5 in 15.2 overs as skipper Binod Bhandari scored unbeaten 30 runs off 22 balls. Bhandari scored two boundaries and two sixes to seal the victory. Bhandari scored the winning runs with a boundary. Opener Anil Mandal hit 23 runs off 21 balls while Sagar Pun (11 runs), Naresh Budhayer (13 runs), Rajesh Pulami (12 runs) were the other contributors for Army. Paras Khadka and Shakti Gauchan claimed two wickets each for APF while Bhuwan Karki took one.

Binod Bhandari was adjudged man-of-the-match.

Meanwhile, Aakash Bista of Region No 5 (Nepalgunj) was awarded with the best bowler and emerging player of tournament titles. Bista had claimed 15 wickets from the five group-stage matches with a strike rate of eight and economy of 4.05.

APF batsman Gyanendra Malla, who scored 210 runs in the five group-stage matches including two half-centuries, was adjudged the best batsman. He had scored with an average of 52.50 in the group stage. He had scored 90 runs against Region No 1 (Pokhara).

Both Bista and Malla received Rs 10,000 each from organizer Cricket Association of Nepal while Bista got another Rs 20,000 from Nepal Cricket Fan Club for being the emerging player.

Likewise, wicketkeeper batsman Mahesh Chhetri of Nepalgunj received the player-of-the-tournament award. Chhetri had scored 177 runs in four innings with an average of 88.50. He scored three half-centuries during the tournament. He was adjudged man-of-the-match in three matches. He bagged Rs 15,000 for the award.

National Sports Council Member Secretary Yuvaraj Lama, Asain Cricket Council Development Officer Rumesh Ratnayake, Varun Bevarage, Nepal CEO Joseph Silvanus, Standard Chartered Bank’s head of corporate affairs Diwakar Paudel and Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) officials gave away awards and prizes to the winners.

Nepal APF Club, Region No 5 (Nepalgunj) and Region No 3 (Kathmandu) registered consecutive second victory on Friday in the Pepsi Standard Chartered T20 National Cricket Tournament.

APF, which defeated Region No 8 (Pokhara) on Thursday in the first match, thrashed Region No 2 (Birgunj) by 76 runs on Friday at the Pulchowk Engineering College Ground, Lalitpur. APF elected to bat first and put up 148/5 in allotted 20 overs as Sharad Vesawkar scored unbeaten 32 runs while Basant Regmi added unbeaten 26. Subash Khakurel blasted 29 runs off 15 balls and Gyanendra Malla scored 24 runs. Binod Das took two wickets for Birgunj while Arif Seikh, Ram Naresh Giri and Irshad Ahamed claimed a wicket each.

In reply, Birgunj reached only 72/8 in 20 overs. Amit Shrestha (26 runs) and Bikram Basnet (20 runs) were the only batsmen to produce double-digit scores for Birgunj. Paras Khadka, Bhuban Karki, Basant Regmi and Shakti Gauchan claimed two wickets each. Regmi was adjudged man-of-the-match for his all-round performance.

Likewise, Nepalgunj edged past Region No 1 (Biratnagar) by six wickets at Pulchowk to register second victory in the tournament. Nepalgunj had defeated Region No 7 (Janakpur) on Thursday.

Biratnagar elected to bat first and put up 118/8 in 20 overs as Sunny Pun scored 36 runs off 40 balls. The second highest contribution in Biratnagar’s total was from 23 extras bowled by Nepalgunj. Nasir Ansari, Nijamuddin Halwahi and Amar Singh Rautela claimed two wickets each while Aakash Bista took a wicket.

Nepalgunj reached the target losing only four wickets as man-of-the-match Mahesh Chhetri garnered 56 runs off 54 balls. Anupam Singh added 38 runs off 40 balls. Mehaboob Alam took two wickets while Manoj Mandal and Manjeet Shrestha dismissed a batsman each.

Following the results, APF and Nepalgunj both have four points each in the group B of the tournament while Birgunj and Pokhara have two points each.

Pokhara defeated Janakpur by 50 runs to collect important two points on the table. Pokhara elected to bat first at the TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur and put up 186/4 in 20 overs. Man-of-the-match Dipesh Khatri clobbered unbeaten 50 runs off 21 balls while opener Santosh Gurung scored 46 runs off 40 balls. Amrit Shrestha (33 runs) and Anil Gurung (23 runs) were the other major contributors for Pokhara. Sanjog Karn, Raj Mohammed and Abhishek Jha claimed a wicket each.

Chasing the good total, Janakpur reached only at 136/9. Jha hit 39 runs off 25 balls while Mohammed added 38 runs for Janakpur. Dipesh Shrestha, Nischal Pandey, Sushil Kandel and Krishna Bastola took two wickets each to restrict Janakpur while Shiva Shrestha claimed a wicket.

Meanwhile, Kathmandu registered a 42-runs victory over Region No 9 (Mahendranagar) at the TU Ground on Friday. Kathmandu elected to bat and put up 148/7 in 20 overs as man-of-the-match Bivatsu Thapa scored 40 runs and Niraj Bhattarai remained unbeaten with 33 runs off 15 balls. Lalit Bhandari, Binod Khatri and Sagar Joshi took two wickets each while Ravi Bhatta claimed a wicket for Mahendranagar, the newly formed cricketing region that debuted in the domestic tournament from the match.

In the run chase, Mahendranagar reached only 106/5. Dipendra Aire (32 runs) and Surendra Chand (unbeaten 25 runs) were the top contributors for Mahendranagar. Prakash Bista, Som Pal Thapa, Niraj Basnet and Anil Karki dismissed a batsman each.

Kathmandu, which had defeated Region No 4 (Bhairahawa) on Thursday, has four points from two matches in the group A after winning second match on Friday.

Wicket-keeper batsman Akash Thapa of Chitawan district cricket team achieved a rare feat in cricket on Monday as he hit six sixes off an over in a match of the regional selection tournament of Region No 8 (Pohara) for the upcoming National T20 Tournament.

Akash Thapa. (Photo Courtesy: Santosh Mishra)

Thapa clobbered all the six balls out of the boundary in the 10th over of the innings bowled by off-spinner Rikesh Gupta of Syangja. Thapa scored 86 runs off 38 balls in the match. He struck nine sixes in total.

“The first ball was a loose one and I hit it for a six. The second ball was over-pitched but I stepped out to hit it and it went for another six. It gave me confidence to hit the rest,” said Thapa to Republica. “Senior player Amrit Shrestha was at the non-striker end. He asked me to play sensible after my first six but as he saw the second six, he encouraged me to hit more,” said the 18-year old, who has been training in Chitawan Cricket Academy since three years with former national team captain Raju Khadka,.

The previous record of best score in an over belongs to Khadka, who had hit five consecutive sixes and a single to Sanjam Regmi in the National One-Day Tournament in 2060 BS.

“It is an individual achievement though it is against relatively easier opponent,” said Khadka about the achievement of his student.

“It is a rare feat even in international cricket but I witnessed it happen in a domestic tournament today (Monday),” said Santosh Mishra, the on-field umpire of the match. “I was surprised and also tired off raising my hands to sign sixes,” he added jokingly.

Following Thapa’s brilliant batting, Chitwan put up 215 runs target and bowled out Syangja for 133 runs.

After representing Nepali cricket for 11 years at the international level, cricketer Sharad Vesawkar received a naturalized citizenship of the country only on Sunday under the provision of Nepal Citizenship Act 2063.

Home Ministry handed over the citizenship certificate to Vesawkar on Sunday as a recognition for his special contribution to Nepali sport. Vesawkar had taken an oath promising that he would always be loyal to the nation. Vesawkar, a son of Nepali mother and Indian father, had been seeking citizenship certificate for the last 15 years. Vesawkar and his mother Himali Khadka live in Siphal, Kathmandu.

“After receiving it, I feel that Nepali cricket fraternity has achieved something. I was used to the situation but people were concerned about me. I would like to thank Cricket Association of Nepal, my team as well as friends and family for their support,” said Vesawkar.

Vesawkar had been representing Nepal at the international level and traveling for tournaments with a passport he had received in 2002 as a minor. The validity of the passport was to end next month.

After receiving the citizenship certificate Vesawkar applied for a new passport on Sunday.

Vesawkar had represented Nepal in the U-15 Asia Cup, 2002 and he is a regular member of Nepali national team since 2004. Nepal had won the World Cricket League Division 3 title last year in Bermuda with Vesawkar scoring 50 runs in the final against Uganda.

Nepal, which is focused on the upcoming World T20 Qualifiers and Cricket World Cup Qualifiers, will take on rival associate-nation Afghanistan on Friday in Singapore in its first match of the ACC Emerging Teams Cup, which could be the best exposure for the national side ahead of the two bigger tournaments.

Nepal is to participate in the World T20 Qualifiers to be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in November and the Cricket World Cup Qualifiers to be held in New Zealand in January, 2014.

Nepali team Coach Pubudu Dassanayake said that his team would try to put up good show in Singapore and try to win matches in the tournament starting from August 17. “We’ll try everything to win matches during the tournament. We’ll try to be at par with Afghanistan in the tournament,” vowed the coach.

Nepal and Afghanistan had clashed five times in the past in the 50-over format. Nepal had defeated Afghanistan in the ACC Trophy Elite2004, which was the first international participation of Afghanistan.  Since then, Afghanistan had defeated Nepal in all the four encounters.

Afghanistan, which defeated Nepal in the World Cricket League Division 5 held in Jersey in 2008, to march forward in the international cricket and has already achieved ODI status. It had played World T20 Cups in 2010 and 2012. Meanwhile, it is on the verge of qualifying to the 50-over World Cup from the World Cricket League Championship group.

Nepal, which recently won the World Cricket League Division 3, has also been aiming World Cup qualification.

“We have a good opportunity to beat Afghanistan. We know they are strong side. They are on the verge of qualifying to the World Cup. We are also moving ahead to get the ODI status and qualify to the World Cup. In this scenario, we have to utilize this opportunity,” said Nepali skipper Paras Khadka.

Nepal is slated along side India, Pakistan and Afghanistan in the tournament, where Asian Test playing nations are to send their U-23 teams.

Nepal had toured Sri Lanka for 14 days ahead of the ACC Emerging Teams Cup. Nepal had lost four practice matches against the Sri Lanka U-23 and defeated NorthEasternProvince during the tour.

“We had a good training in Sri Lanka though results were not that good. All the players got good exposure. We are prepared for the tournament,” said Khadka.

Earlier, there were reports that Khadka and all-rounder Pradeep Airee had injury worries. However, Khadka claimed that both of them are available for the match against Afghanistan.

“I’m 90 percent fit. I can throw balls while fielding but there is less chance of bowling. However, I will ball if situation demands. Pradeep is also available for tomorrow’s match,” said Khadka to Republica on telephone conversation on Friday. “We’ll decide the playing XI tomorrow morning after pitch inspection,” he added.

Nepal is scheduled to take on India U-23 on Tuesday and Pakistan U-23 on Wednesday.

The top three teams of the ACC Trophy Elite Cup held in October 2012 were given chance to compete in the event. Nepal and the UAE had finished joint winners in the tournament following a tie in the final. Afghanistan had finished third.
Singapore secured berth as the host. The tournament is being organized for the first time by ACC.

Nepali national cricket team suffered yet another huge defeat in its Sri Lanka tour as Sri Lanka U-23 thrashed Nepal by 133 runs on Thursday in the second practice match of the tour. Nepal had lost to the same team by seven wickets on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka U-23 put up 254/9 at NCCA Cricket Ground, Colombo as opener Shehan Jayasuriya scored 42 runs off 47 balls and Danushka Gunathilaka garnered 39 runs off 68 balls. Niroshan Dickwella (25 runs off 34 balls), Romesh Buddhika (38 runs off 41 balls) contributed for Sri Lanka in the middle order while Chathuranga Kumara scored 48 runs off 56 balls and Charith Jayapanthi struck unbeaten 29 runs off nine balls to put up a huge total against Nepal at down the order.

Nepali bowlers Avinash Karn, Ram Naresh Giri, Sagar Pun, Shakti Gauchan, Basant Regmi and Prithu Baskota took a wicket each.

Chasing the huge total, Nepal was all out for 122 runs in 40.1 overs. Nepal lost opener Subash Khakurel in the very first ball of the innings but his opening partner Ani Kumar Mandal tried to anchor the Nepali innings scoring 51 runs off 99 balls. Nepal lost Mahesh Chhetri (3 runs), skipper Paras Khadka (naught), Binod Bhandari (naught) and Sharad Vesawkar (1 run) in quick succession. Prithu Baskota resisted Sri Lankan attack for a while scoring 22 runs off 35 balls. Shakti Gauchan scored unbeaten 21 runs off 29 balls but Nepal was all out for 122 runs as Basant Regmi (7 runs), Sagar Pun (5 runs) and Rahul Kumar Vishwakarma (2 runs) could not resist Sri Lankan bowling for a long.

Lahiru Jayaratna took four wickets for Sri Lanka U-23 while Chathuranga Kumara claimed two wickets.

Nepali team has been in 14-day tour of Sri Lanka ahead of ACC Emerging Teams Cup. The national team is scheduled to fly to Singapore from Sri Lanka to take part in the ACC Emerging Teams Cup to be held from August 17 to 25. Nepal is slated along side India, Pakistan and Afghanistan in the tournament, where Asian Test playing nations are to send their U-23 teams.

Nepal will meet Denmark in the opening day of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2013, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said as it announced the schedule of the tournament which will take place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 15 to 30 November, 2013.

In exactly 100 days, sixteen sides from across the globe will feature in the 15-day tournament which will be played at seven venues – Dubai International Cricket Stadium and ICC Academy grounds No.1 and No.2 in Dubai, Zayed Cricket Stadium and Abu Dhabi Ovals 1 and 2 in Abu Dhabi and the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Continue reading →

Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has decided to send wicketkeeper-batsman Mahesh Chhetri and medium pacer Jitendra Mukhiya to Sri Lanka to join the national cricket team on its ongoing practice tour ahead of the ACC Emerging Teams Cup.

“The ongoing tour is part of preparations for not only the ACC tournament but also the upcoming ICC World T20 Qualifiers and the ICC World Cup Qualifiers. In this scenario, we want the maximum number of players to get exposure,” said Ashok Nath Pyakuryal, the general secretary of CAN.

Nepal has been drawn in Group B along with Afghanistan, Scotland, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Kenya, Bermuda and Denmark for the ICC World T20 Qualifiers to be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in November. Nepal will also vie for a World Cup berth in the qualifiers to be held in New Zealand in January 2014.

“Some of our players are suffering from minor injuries and we have some very important tournaments ahead. Therefore we decided not to take chances and to strengthen our bench players as well,” he added.

According to Pyakuryal, CAN will complete all the necessary arrangements to send the two players to Sri Lanka within this week.

The Nepali national cricket team, led by captain Paras Khadka and coach Pubudu Dassanayake, left Kathmandu on Thursday for a 14-day tour of Sri Lanka.

The Nepali team will play practice matches against the Sri Lankan U-23 team and a provincial team in Sri Lanka.

The team will fly to Singapore from Sri Lanka to compete in the ACC Emerging Teams Cup scheduled for August 17-25 after the practice tour concludes. Nepal will face India, Pakistan and Afghanistan in the group stage of the tournament, for which the Asian Test playing nations will send their U-23 teams.

General assembly in mid-Aug

CAN has decided to hold its annual general assembly in Pokhara in mid-August.

“We have decided to hold the general assembly in Pokhara in mid-August. However, we are yet to finalize all the programs. It could be a one-day (Aug 15) or two-day (Aug 14 and 15) program,” said Pyakuryal.

“Since it is just an annual general assembly, we are likely to endorse the ongoing plans and programs only,” he added.

New cricketing region

Meanwhile, CAN has decided to create a new cricketing region by splitting the current Region No 6 (Baitadi). The new region would be called Region No 9. “Our steering committee has decided to develop domestic cricket through nine regions. However, we are yet to decide the territories of the concerned regions,” said Pyakuryal.

Earlier, all the districts of Far-Western Development Region were in Region No 6 but this could change following the new decision and Region No 9 could have its base in Dhangadhi.

(Courtesy- Republica Daily)

Nepali cricketers Rubina Chhetry and Roshani Bohara have been selected by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) to play in the Division 1 cricket in Sri Lanka in August, the ACC wrote on its official website. The Nepali duo were among four international women cricketers sponsored by the ACC. The other two are Nattaya Boochatham and Sornnarin Tippoch of Thailand.

Rubina Chhetri

According to the ACC, they were chosen on the basis of their performance in the 2013 ACC Women’s Championship as well as their ability to inspire their team-mates on their return back to their countries for the foreseeable future.

“It’s a great opportunity for them to develop and know the set-up in Sri Lanka. I am sure that they will benefit from being there,” the ACC quoted its Development Manager Bandula Warnapura as saying.

Rubina Chhetry and Sorrnanin Tippoch are captains of their respective countries.

The ACC statement further reads: “The Nepali and Thai women will play for the Palink Sports Club (Palians), based in Colombo, in Sri Lanka Cricket’s 50-over Division 1 Women’s League. Under the tournament rules only two foreign players can be fielded by a side at one time so they will play in rotation.

“The important thing is not only match play but exposure to a full-international set-up, a country where cricket is part of the national culture, one where they will eat, drink and train with other cricketers,” says the ACC Development Manager.

“The Palians have been very kind in offering their facilities and hospitality in Colombo to our visitors,” he adds.

The Nepali and Thai girls will reach Colombo on August 10, prior to the start of the Sri Lanka season on the 20th. They will be on the island for a month.

The ACC is also proposing to work with the Asian Test-playing countries on tours in 2014 for the top Associates as well as Umpiring Scholarships.

Nepali national cricket team has opportunities to qualify to the ICC World T20 Cup and Cricket World Cup 2015. Nepal is slated in group B of the ICC World T20 Qualifiers to be held in the UAE in November along with Afghanistan, Scotland, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Kenya, Bermuda and Denmark. Meanwhile, Nepal is to vie for the World Cup spot in the qualifier to be held in New Zealand in January 2014. However, the national cricket team got limited chance to have outdoor practice in the country following the rainy season.

However, the national team hopes to utilize a practice tour to Sri Lanka at maximum to build up for the upcoming qualifiers as the team left Kathmandu on Thursday. Nepali team led by Coach Pubudu Dassanayake and Captain Paras Khadka will play practice matches against the Sri Lankan U-23 team and a provincial team in Sri Lanka during its 14 days stay in Sri Lanka.

Nepali team is also schedule to participate in the ACC Emerging Teams Cup to be held in Singapore from August 17 to 25 after the practice tour to Sri Lanka. Nepal is slated along side India, Pakistan and Afghanistan in the tournament, where Asian Test playing nations are to send their U-23 teams.

“It would be tough to face teams of Test playing nations but we’ll try for win in Singapore,” said Captain Khadka. “We have been playing good cricket since last few tournaments but we have to forget all those and start afresh for the upcoming tournaments,” he added.

Khadka said that his team would utilize the facilities in Sri Lanka at maximum to prepare for the upcoming tournaments.

“We could not have training sessions to improve cricketing skills here because of weather but we hope to do have proper training in Sri Lanka and prepare well for the upcoming tournaments,” said Coach Dassanayake.

Dassanayake hopes that his boys would seek respect from Test nations in the Emerging Teams Cup. “For us, the Emerging Teams Cup is  to take respect from Test nations and to take respect from them we have to win matches there,” said Dassanayake.

He said the tournament would be a good preparation to build up for the upcoming qualifiers.

National Sports Council (NSC) and Cricket Association of Nepal bade farewell to the national team on Thursday amidst a program at NSC. Vice Captain Gyanendra Malla and Basant Regmi, who were in Canada to play professional cricket, are to join the team later.