Nepal scored a thumping 8-wicket victory over African nation Tanzania to register second win in the World Cricket League Division 4 at the Bayemas Oval, Malaysia.
After choosing to bat first, Tanzania was bowled out for 82 in 39.4 overs. Nepal chased the target in 19.4 overs in loss of two wickets. Continue reading
Nepal began the World Cricket League Division 4 campaign with a thumping five-wicket victory over Singapore but not without worries over batting for upcoming matches.
Man of the match Amrit Bhattarai was the key of Nepal’s victory with his impressive left-arm pace taking first four wickets to push the opponents in backfoot as early as possible. Continue reading
As Nepali cricket team is to start its Division 4 campaign inMalaysiafrom Monday, Binod Pandey made an email interview with Nepali captain Paras Khadka, who is leading the team inMalaysia. Excerpts:
How difficult is it to play world cricket league abroad?
World Cricket League is the best opportunity for any team to qualify into the 50-over World Cup. It provides equal opportunity to all. More than difficulty, it becomes pretty hard for teams to maintain that consistency and move up the ladder as only two teams can make it through to the higher level.
According to stats, most of the hosts have achieved promotion in World Cricket League. What would you say?
Being a host team has its advantages in terms of knowing local conditions and everything but then in the end you have to play good cricket to be called a good team and that is what matters.
After last division 4, Nepali players have not played any 50-over match at the international level. Meanwhile, there was no 50-over domestic tournament in last 15 months. What could be the effects? Even U19 players have not shown patience to play 50 overs during the recently concluded U-19 World Cup.
It’s true that we have not played enough 50-over international matches but a team cannot put that as an excuse. However, we touredSri Lankaand got some good matches there recently. There will always be pros and cons regarding that but we have to put everything aside and move forward positively. Patience is the key to success especially in this format.
How are you taking Malaysian team, coached by your former coach Roy Dias? Malaysia is also the host this time.
Roysir is a professional and as a professional coach you have to travel and coach different teams. That’s how international sports function. We are here to compete against each and every team and ultimately to win the tournament. That’s our motto and as a team and a cricket country we know this is our final chance to try and compete for the 2015 World Cup!!
Rahul Biswokarma’s brilliant bowling ensured Nepal 13th position in the ICC U19 World Cup and a victory over Papua New Guinea (PNG) by six wickets to end the tournament in a positive note.
Rahul claimed 6 wickets for 3 runs – the best bowling figure in the tournament to bowl out PNG for 89 in 33.1 over. Nepal achieved the target in 18.5 overs losing four wickets. Continue reading
Australia thrashed Nepal by 212 runs. Ireland beat Nepal by 14 runs. England outplayed Nepal by 200 runs. Sri Lanka defeated Nepal by 8 wickets. These were results of first four matches of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in Australia.
Anything odd? Yes, of course. This was first time Nepal lost four straight matches in six U19 CWCs. In 2000, it had lost three matches straight but it was Nepal’s debut and the Super League – the second round of top 8 teams – where Nepal lost matches to India, Sri Lanka and England. Continue reading
Nepal finally registered a victory at the ICC U19 World Cup with a 39-run win over Namibia in the 13th Place Playoff Semifinal.
It needed two records – the best batting and bowling performances by Nepali players – for the first victory in the tour, where Nepal’s incompetence has frustrated fans. Continue reading
Nepal’s lack of competence at the ICC U19 World Cup continued as Test-nation Sri Lanka walked away with an easy 8-wicket victory in the Plate Championships quarterfinals.
Nepal was bowled out for 79 in 27.3 overs – it’s second lowest total in U19 WCs after 74 against West Indies in 2006 Plate Final. Sri Lanka needed just 20.4 overs to conquer the victory. Continue reading
A hat-trick of losses ensued as England outplayed Nepal by 127 runs in the final first-round match of the ICC U19 World Cup in Australia.
However, the loss was not what worried the Nepali cricket fans, rather it’s loss of flickers of brilliance in the team that had in past regularly beaten Test nations at the event. Continue reading
If Nepal had any hopes of making into the Super League of the ICC U19 World Cup after a 212-run defeat in the hands of the hosts Australia, it rested on an act of beating Ireland and giant-killing England. However, it was Ireland who turned the tables upside down.
Avenging the loss they had suffered at home during the Qualifiers for the U19 World Cup, Ireland beat Nepal by 14 runs. If you consider that’s was a close margin, you surely hadn’t followed the match live. It was a defeat that was bigger than the margin. Continue reading
In a day when no Associate nations could impress, heavyweight Australia thrashed Nepal by 212 runs on the third day of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2012 in Queensland, Australia, on Monday.
Before the ESPN STAR Sports HD cameras at the Tony Ireland Stadium in Townsville, Australia romped to a impressive victory over Nepal, thanks to a century by opener Cameron Bancroft and a hat-trick by paceman Harry Conway. Continue reading
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
A lot has happened in cricket since Nepal pipped South Africa to enter the Super League at the U-19 World Cup, in their first appearance at the event, in 2000. This was the first, and so far only, incident of an associate member of ICC entering the Super League stage at the Youth World Cup.
It’s a different issue that South Africa were one of the favourites and were unlucky to be eliminated after three no-results gave them just three points. Nepal, with four points due to one no-result against South Africa and a win over Kenya, went through to the Super League. After all, Nepali players did not create the format of the championship and did not choose their opponents either.
Nepal returns to the U19 World Cup again, having missed out on the 2010 event. To qualify, Nepal finished second behind Scotland and one place ahead of Ireland in the 10-team ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2011, played in Ireland.
And when you come back after a break of four years, it’s only natural to reflect upon past glory. The players from the U-19 team would probably do that, absorbing how much Nepal is known in world cricketing circle.
It was 10 years ago, when Martin Snedden, former New Zealand international and tournament director of U-19 World Cup 2002, asked then Nepal coach Roy Dias, “Roy, what are you doing in Nepal?”, oblivious to the fact that the country had cricket grounds and some cricket history. Till then, New Zealand had only one connection to Nepal and that was Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to successfully climb Mount Everest. Certainly, a host to the highest peak in the world would not have enough space and flat land for cricket, they believed.
It was the same year, the same event, where Nepal announced itself, beating the likes of Pakistan. The team which had Salman Butt and Umar Gul, no nonsense names in cricket. And then Nepal was nicknamed the giant killers. To the extent that South African coach Ray Jennings reportedly said that his team was yet to get over the jinx of Nepal. South Africa has finished as runner-ups twice, but is yet to win the U-19 World Cup (or any major ICC championship, for that matter).
The more things change, the more they remain same.
Yours truly happened to meet a couple of cricketers (name withheld) who played that match, where Nepal thumped Pakistan. A decade later, they’re hardly playing cricketer. No, it’s not the want that’s diminished. It is the lack of opportunities. They complain, “Even Inter-college cricket is not happening.”
When asked about their future plans, they talk about opening a restaurant, preferably a joint-venture with other few cricketers. They rue the fact that Nepal Police Club took them, but hasn’t really formed a team which would play cricket (after winning T20 National Championships and finishing second in One-Day championship).
The more things change, the more they remain the same.
The players, once called the giant killers, are clueless about what to do next. That’s the difficult thing about being giant killers. You cannot always remain that. Either you graduate, winning more matches and climbing the next level: of being consistent performers, or you fade out, into oblivion.
It was 2006 edition of the championship when our U-19 team achieved its best result, landing with silverware, winning the plate final, after a thrilling victory against New Zealand and having beaten South Africa as well. But the captain then, Kanishka Chaugain, is in US, and not in Nepali cricket set up anymore. While the players at the same championship, Cheteswar Pujara and Rohit Sharma (both India) are being touted as future of Indian cricket.
It would be interesting to see how many players the championship throws up this time. But one thing is for certain, we cannot merely remain giant killers anymore. We have to step up. Hopefully Cricket Association of Nepal is listening to the plight of cricketers.
(Ed: This write-up appeared in Somesh Verma’s weekly column in The Kathmandu Post, on 12th August, 2012)
Cricket Nepal’s Australia representative Sudin Pokharel had an opportunity to chat with Nepali captain Prithu Baskota about the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in Australia. Excerpts: Continue reading
Nepal captain Prithu Baskota is daring to dream ahead of ICC U19 Cricket World Cup clash against Australia.
The ICC Associate nation begins its campaign with a fixture against the host nation at Tony Ireland Stadium in Townsville. And although it will enter the match as rank outsiders, Baskota believes his side can produce a stunning upset. Continue reading
Three-time defending champion Australia and 1998 winner England are favourites to progress to the Super League stage from Group A of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2012, which will be staged in Queensland, Australia, from 11 to 26 August.
However, both the Full Member countries will need to be on top of their games and cannot afford to be complacent in the presence of Nepal and Ireland in their group. Continue reading
The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the six squads that will travel to Malaysia for Pepsi ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Division 4 from 3 to 10 September.
Nepal will play Singapore on the opening day of the event. Continue reading
New Zealand was made to work hard by Nepal before winning its ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2012 warm-up match by 19 runs in Brisbane.
Captain Will Young stroked a fine 97 to lift New Zealand to 267-8 in 50 overs but Naresh Budayair led Nepal’s spirited fight back and slammed an excellent 114 as his side finished at 248-9 in 50 overs. Continue reading
Papua New Guinea U-19 defeated Nepal U-19 by eight wickets on Tuesday in a warm-up match before the U-19 Cricket World Cup.
Nepal elected to bat at the Albury Oval, Brisbane and put up 213 runs losing all the wickets in 43.3 overs but PNG met the target in 40.3 overs losing only two wickets.
PNG opener Lega Siaka (106 runs off 112 balls) put up a 77-run partnership with his opening partner Vagi Oala (35 runs off 68 balls) and shared 126-run second wicket partnership with Christopher Kent (unbeaten 55 runs off 54 balls).
Siaka hit 11 boundaries and four sixes before Rahul Vishvakarma claimed his wicket. Vishvakarma had claimed the wicket of Oala too.
Nepali pacers Krishna Karki proved to be most expensive. Karki gave away 58 runs bowling seven overs despite keeping two maiden overs.
Earlier, opener Subash Khakurel (68 runs off 85 balls) and Hasim Ansari (81 runs off 80 balls) guided Nepal to the total of 213 runs.
Khakurel and Pradeep Airee (25 runs off 19 balls) put up a 44-run opening stand. Airee lost his wicket in the second ball of the seventh over and the Nepali middle order except Ansari could not resist PNG attack. Ansari gave ray of hope to Nepal hitting 11 boundaries before Chad Soper claimed his wicket. Nepali tail-enders also failed to create any buzz. Except Khakurel, Airee and Ansari, no Nepali batsmen reached the score of double digits. Nepali Captain Prithu Baskota (1 run) was retired hurt just after starting his innings.
Soper took five wickets to demolish Nepal. His bowling figure was 7.3-2-22-5.
Nepal will take on New Zealand on Wednesday at the McMullin Oval, Sunshine Coast in their second warm-up match before the U-19 World Cup.
The U-19 World Cup is scheduled to kick off in Australia from Saturday (August 11). Nepal will take on Australia in their World Cup opener on Monday.
The captains of the 16 Under-19 teams pose with the World Cup trophy, Brisbane, August 6, 2012. Nepal’s Prithu Baskota on front row!
Nepal U-19 cricket team registered three wickets victory over Northern Territory (NT) Academy in the third practice match ahead of the U-19 World Cup inAustraliaon Friday.
Winning the toss, NT opted to bat first and scored 195 runs in 50 overs losing nine wickets. Rahul BK grabbed four wickets to restrict NT to the small total.
Nepal’s middle order batsman Naresh Budaayer scored unbeaten 93 runs to script the victory for Nepal. Skipper Prithu Baskota scored 23 runs while Hasim Ansari scored 16 runs.
In two friendly matches played earlier in Darwin, Nepal U-19 had faced 98 runs defeat at the hands of NT Strike Seniors while it had registered 255 runs victory over Darwin U-17 team.
Nepal will play a friendly against Papua New Guineaon August 7 and another friendly against New Zealand on August 8.
BY NITESH REGMI
I always thought there were some similarities between Sri Lankan pace bowler Chaminda Vaas and our own Mehboob Alam. I don’t know if anyone of you has ever realized the same. I am not much aware about the run-up but I feel the throwing action bit similar.
Once I had sent message to Mehboob Alam saying brother you bowl like Vaas and bat like Chanderpaul, he laughed and thanked me for the compliment.
Chamida Vaas (Sri Lanka) and Mehboob Alam (Nepal).
Left arm pace bowlers by nature, both of them are masters of swinging the ball specially bringing the ball back to the right hander. Alam has taken record ten wickets against Mozambique to bowl them out for 19 runs in 14.5 overs.
Chaminda Vaas in not too far away, 8 wickets for 19 runs being his best bowling figures against Zimbabwe to dismiss them for 38. Out of the 10 wickets, Vaas had taken first 8 wickets but unfortunately could not achieve the feat of 10 wickets; the other two were taken by Muthiah Muralitharan. And add to that both of them bat left handed and are renowned for their big hits.
Both the players have served their countries for years and won many matches for their countries. It would not be inappropriate to call them legends of their countries. But the irony is that such prolific players were also dropped from the team while not being at best.
It is the nature of the game, as long as you give your best, you are in the team. But once age is not in your favor, even if you play average, you are likely to be dropped. At that time, your career statistics and profile won’t help you.
A player of the caliber of Chaminda Vaas was dropped from the T20 world cup squad and also two tests against Pakistan. He played the third test which was his last. He announced his retirement from test matches and was available for selection for the 2011 world cup. But he was not picked for the world cup by the selectors. Then he decided to retire from all formats. Not the best way to end the career, but this is how it is.
Same has happened to Mehboob Alam now. He has not made to the squad selected for Division 4. Vaas didn’t get any opportunities to prove the selectors wrong, hope Alam does not end up here like Vaas. He can still come stronger and serve the country as long as he wishes and retire on a high. Best wishes to him…
Two of Nepal’s first round matches of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup will be televised live, according to the International Cricket Council (ICC) which released umpires’ appointments for warm-up and first round matches.
Nepal vs Australia on August 13 and Nepal vs England on August 16 will be broadcast live by ICC’s broadcast partner ESPN Star Sports. Continue reading
Nepali umpire Buddhi Pradhan is one of the officials named for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in Australia to be held from August 11 to 26.
Pradhan will officiate two practice matches – Zimbabwe vs Namibia & South Africa vs Bangladesh – on August 7 and 8 and three first round matches – Pakistan vs Afghanistan (Aug 11), Pakistan vs Scotland (Aug 13), Scotland vs Afghanistan (Aug 15) – in the U19 World Cup. Continue reading
Former captain Binod Das was named in the final 14 for the ICC World Cricket League Division IV to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on September 1-10.
This is probably the last opportunity for Binod, who last played for national team in ACC T20 Elite Cup in Kathmandu, to prove his utility. Continue reading
Nepal U19, preparing for the ICC U19 Youth World Cup, registered a 255-run victory over Kormilda College in a practice match in Darwin, Australia.
Nepal scored 358/8 in 50 overs and bowled out Kormilda for 103. Continue reading
Nepali U-19 cricket team, which reached Australia on Saturday to participate in the U-19 World Cup starting from August 4, lost its first practice match on Sunday against a local team in Darwin.
Northern Territory (NT) Strike Senior Team thrashed Nepali U-19 by 98 runs in the practice match. Nepal elected to field and the local team put up 281/7 in 50 overs. In reply, Nepal was all out for 183 runs. Naresh Budhaayer scored 53 runs while Faizlur Rahman added 50 runs.
“According to our team manager Kiran Rana, Faizlur had picked injury while fielding but he succeeded in scoring a half-century,” said Assistant Coach Jagat Tamata. He will leave Kathmandu on August 3.
