Cricket Nepal (Archive)

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 Ramnaresh chipped one wicket.

Dan D’Souza contributed 32 runs while Zameen Jaleel scored 31 runs for UAE.

In response, Nepal reached their target having 102 balls to spare with Aarif Sheikh scoring match highest 48 runs. Raju Rijal contributed 27 runs while Prakash Bista scored 22 runs.

Pankaj Prakash claimed three wickets for UAE while Sajid Khan, Moaaz Qazi and Jay Joshi bagged one wicket each.    

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 the toss and opting to bat first, Nepal received an early blow as openers Sunil Dhamala and Amit Shrestha returned to the pavilion adding only 12 runs for the first wicket.

Shrestha was first wicket to fall for Nepal when Kuldeep Yadav, who finished with figures of 5-31-2, bowled him in the fifth over with just 12 runs on the board.

Shortly after, Dhamala threw away his wicket when he played a careless shot only to be caught by Monu Kumar off Chama Milind in the ninth over after making 16 runs from 36 balls.

Bibhastu Thapa, who contributed a patient 47 runs off 105 balls, could only watch helplessly as wickets kept tumbling at the other end.

Raju Rijal was trapped leg before wicket by Yadav when he was on six runs while Siddhant Lohani and skipper Bhuvan Karki also fell to Yadav without opening their scores.

Coming in at number seven, Aarif Sheikh took Nepal past 100 runs with 40 runs off 62 balls that included three boundaries and a six. He was caught and bowled by Sarfaraz Khan in the 41st over.

No other batsmen could score more than three runs as the Nepali innings came to an end four overs after the dismissal of Sheikh.

Karan Kaila and Khan bagged two wickets each for India.

In response, India got off to a flying start with its openers Herwadkar and Zol racking up 133 runs for the first wicket.

Herwadkar blasted 71 runs off 67 deliveries with eight fours and a six, while his partner Zol smashed 61 runs off 82 balls that included nine fours and a six.

Karki bagged the only wicket for Nepal, dismissing Herwadkar in the 25th over but it was way too late as India reached the target with 149 balls to spare.

Following Sunday´s victory, India moved to the top of the standings with four points courtesy of a better run-rate than Pakistan, which also has four points from two matches.

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. Both Aslam and Raza completed centuries before Zafar Gohar hit a quick-fire 50 off 26 later in the innings to help his side post a formidable total.

Skipper Aslam smashed a run-a-ball 108 with four sixes and six fours, while the hard-hitting Raza scored 100 off 118 balls, smacking seven sixes and a four.

Nepali bowlers, who were drubbed by the rugged Pakistani batting line-up, found a crucial breakthrough only in the 37th over with the dismissal of Aslam, after another opener Mohammad Umair had departed in the fifth over scoring only 10 runs.

The arrival of Raza only rubbed salt into the wounds of Nepali bowlers as his fiery knock put Pakistan in a commanding position, with 263 runs on the board, before his departure in the 42nd over. Lalit Bhandari and Ramnaresh Giri claimed two wickets each for Nepal while Yagyaman Kumal picked up one wicket.

In reply, Nepal made a decent start as Sunil Dhamala and Amit Shrestha shared a 76-run opening partnership. Dhamala contributed 39 runs while Shrestha topscored with 60 off 107 that included six boundaries.

However, Nepal failed to recover from the loss of its openers as it lost wickets at regular intervals, with Raju Rijal returning to the pavilion without opening his score and Prem Tamang and Susan Bhari adding only one run each. Bibhastu Thapa and skipper Arif Sheikh, who contributed 22 and 25 runs respectively, tried to reinstate some pride in the Nepali side by playing with patience but it was too little too late for Nepal. Bhuvan Karki contributed 19 runs.

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 cricket tournaments that any Nepali team participates.

Though fans are well aware about the situation, they can’t stop expecting high. In the case of the ACC U-19 Asia Cup also, Nepali fans have some hopes the young Nepali brigade could upset teams from Test nations. Even the sports authorities expect similar.

“We should not worry about who we are taking on. We should follow the instincts to win and give the best shot we have. If we are taking on India and Pakistan, we should not be afraid of the names,” National Sports Council Member Secretary Yuvaraj Lama told to the U-19 team while bidding farewell in Kathmandu.

Charged up Nepal U-19 coach Junga Bahadur Thapa also claimed that his team would not play as an underdog against any team. “We’ll not take any team as an underdog. We have good batting line-up and fielding. If bowlers maintain the bowling discipline we can upset any team,” said Thapa.

Nepal is in the group A of tournament alongside Pakistan, India and the UAE. Nepal will take on India on Sunday and the UAE on Tuesday.

Nepal had lost to Pakistan by eight wickets in the last edition of the tournament.

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 seven balls) fell in quick succession.

Skipper Khadka and Sharad Vesawkar produced a 75-run stand for the fourth wicket. Khadka scored 62 runs off 58 balls including four boundaries and two sixes. Vesawkar garnered 36 runs off 65 balls.

Binod Bhandari made a quick-fired 28 runs off 12 balls to guide Nepal to a defendable total against the Sri Lankan club. He struck three sixes and a boundary. Sagar Pun scored five runs off three balls and Basant Regmi hit nine runs off six balls while Pradeep Airee remained unbeaten with two.

Imran Khan, Amila Aponsu and Adeesha Nanayakkara took two wickets each for Bloomfield while Kirshan Weeraratne and Nipun Karunaratne claimed a wicket each.

Bloomfield lost its first wicket at the total score of 38 runs and kept on losing in regular intervals. Spinner Regmi took three wickets by bowling 7.4 overs with two maidens and giving away only 25 runs. Meanwhile, pacer Kami gave away 47 runs to claim three wickets in his 10 overs. Avinash Karn and Shakti Gauchan took a wicket each.

Sadun Ranatunga top-scored for Bloomfield with 48 runs while Nipun Karunaratne (31 runs) and Adeesha Nanayakkara (29 runs) were the other major contributors.

Nepal had defeated Moors Cricket Club by two wickets and Colts Cricket Club by four wickets in the first two practice matches. Nepal, then, beat Sri Lanka Ports Authority by two-wickets on Tuesday.

Nepal team is scheduled to leave Sri Lanka on Thursday night to participate in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers to be held in New Zealand from January 16 to February 1, 2014. Nepal has a plan to have some practice sessions and matches in New Zealand before playing in the qualifiers.

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, a regional association under KCA.

Korea called up interested athletes and selected 23 women for the training camp to prepare the women’s national cricket team.

“Some of the players are university students and school teachers while some are players of baseball, swimming and softball,” said Khan. “We have started teaching them basic cricket since last one and half months,” he added.

As IncheonCity has very cold weather and does not have facility of natural turf wickets, KCA chose Nepal to run training camp. According to Khan, they will run training camp in Nepal for a month period. Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has provided coaches — Raju Basnyat, Kalam Ali and Nira Rajopadhyaya — to teach the Korean girls along with other technical support.

“Nepal has been growing as a cricket country. Before coming here, we came to know there are skillful coaches like Nira to teach basics to our girls. We thought Nepal would be the best option to teach basics,” said Khan. “Meanwhile, we have good relation with Nepal Olympic Committee and Cricket Association of Nepal,” he added.

Song Seung Min, 20-year-old student of GacheonUniversity, is one of the players in the training camp. “I knew nothing when I first heard about the cricket some months ago but after going through the training, I’m interested in it,” said Song, who used to play baseball as a pitcher with her friends.

Song and her friends have started aiming high though she is yet to learn basics about cricket. “We want bronze medal in the Asian Games,” said Song without any hesitation.

Nepali coach Nira Rajopadhyaya, also the former captain of Nepal women’s team, found Korean girls hard working. “They are learning basics. We are teaching them basic techniques but they are quick to learn,” said Rajopadhyaya. “They are doing hard works and if they keep it up, they will progress soon,” she added.

After having basic cricket lesson from Nepal, the Koreans are planning to run training camps in Incheon. “We are trying to get some support from government and planning to call Nepali women’s team for practice matches before the Asian Games,” said Khan, who migrated to Korea from Lahore, Pakistan some 20 years ago and started playing cricket in Korea since then.

Nepal has almost similar story of stepping in women’s cricket. Cricketing Region No 5 (Nepalgunj) had taken the initiative in 2006 by assembling athletes from different other games. International Cricket Council (ICC) encouraged the initiative by giving away ICC Global Award then. Nepal had finished the ACC Women’s Trophy 2007 as runner-up in its first international participation in women’s cricket. It has been garnering successes at the international level in the women’s cricket since then.

(As reported to REPUBLICA)

A Korean girl learns batting.

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 players and what we lack is experience,” said Karki. “However, we have practiced match scenarios and played some practice matches during the training,” he added.

Coach Junga Bahadur Thapa said that his team has high morale and the boys are emotionally charged up to do good.

“We have strong batting line-up and boys are good in fielding. If bowlers maintain discipline of line and length, we can produce some good results,” said Thapa. “We are not afraid of any team,” he added.

Captain Karki said that preparation of the U-19 was overshadowed by the success and preparation of national team. “I’ve been motivating boys to do well by saying that we can also get equal name and fame as our seniors if we play good cricket,” said Karki.

U-19 team with National Sports Council Member Secretary Yuvaraj Lama. (Photo courtesy: NSC)

National Sports Council (NSC) Member Secretary Yuvaraj Lama and Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) President Tanka Angbuhang handed over a national flag to the captain and coach during a farewell program on Wednesday.

“Following the recent success of the national team, people have very high expectation from every cricket team,” said Lama addressing the U-19 team. “You are the future of Nepali cricket and your performance shows what would be the future scenario,” he added.

Lama said that the U-19 players have to perform well to knock the doors of the national team. He also promised that NSC would provide incentives to the young players if they do well in the UAE.

Bhari, Singh in the team

CAN has called spinner Susan Bhari in the U-19 team as a replacement of Sompal Kami, who was included in the national team for the upcoming ICC World Cup Qualifiers. Meanwhile, Rahul Pratap Singh replaced injured Sushil Kandel in the team.

“Sompal and Avinash Karn are called in the national squad. The team would have been much stronger if they were in the team,” said coach Thapa. “However, I’ve faith on Lalit Singh Bhandari and Ram Naresh Giri of bowling well,” he added.

The coach has considered Sunil Dhamala and Amit Shrestha as the opening batsmen of the team.

Previous records

This is the second time Nepal has been playing the ACC U-19 Asia Cup. Nepal had crashed out from the group stage in the last edition of the tournament held in Malaysia in 2012.

Nepal had suffered an eight-wicket loss to Pakistan and an 81-run loss to India. Nepal had defeated Malaysia by 107 runs.

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.

However, Khadka and Sharad Vesawkar put up a 128-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Khadka fell nine-run short of century in the 33.2 overs as the fourth wicket of Nepal. He struck seven sixes and four boundaries during his well-crafted innings. Binod Bhandari got out three balls later without scoring.

Vesawkar garnered 34 runs off 69 balls before getting out in the 35.3 overs. Prithu Baskota chipped in with 13 runs off 25 balls and Pradeep Airee added 24 runs off  35 balls. Airee was caught at slip in the last ball of the 46th over, when Nepal was in need off just two runs to win the match.

Basant Regmi scored the winning run in style with a boundary in the last ball of the penultimate over. Shakti Gauchan remained unbeaten with two runs.

Chanaka Komasaru and Anuk De Alwis took three wickets each for the Sri Lanka Ports Authority.

Earlier, Nepali bowlers claimed wickets in regular interval to restrict the home side at 200. Spinner Pun remained on the peak of the Nepali bowling attack with the bowling figures of 10-1-36-4. Prithu Baskota and Avinash Karn claimed two wickets each while Basant Regmi dismissed a Sri Lankan batsman.

Gayashan Weerasekara (34 runs off 63 balls) was the top scorer for the home team while Gayan Maneeshan (28 runs off 35 balls), Mahela Udawatte (27 runs off 24 balls) and Raneesh Perera (26 runs off 38 balls) were the other major contributors.

Nepal had defeated Moors Cricket Club by two wickets and Colts Cricket Club by four wickets in the first two practice matches. Nepal will take on Bloomfield Cricket Club on Thursday in its last practice match in Sri Lanka.

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.

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. Opening partnership between Anil Mandal and Mahesh Chhetri ended when Nepal was at 11 runs. Mandal added only six runs. Chhetri also added only seven runs off 26 balls before departing. Gyanendra Malla (eight runs) and skipper Paras Khadka (28 runs off 32 balls) fell in quick succession leaving Nepal to languish at 59/4.

Sharad Vesawkar (17 runs off 32 balls) and Bhandari put up a 67-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Bhandari blasted 52 runs off 29 balls. He struck seven boundaries and three sixes.

Pradeep Airee departed without scoring while Basant Regmi added just four runs. Nepal was at 135/8 by the end of the 27th over. However, Prithu Baskota (unbeaten five runs off 20 balls) and Shakti Gauchan (unbeaten 10 runs off 20 balls) kept their cool to seal the victory.

Malinda Pushpakumara claimed four wickets for the host club while Kaushalya Gajasinghe and Shehan Jayasoriya dismissed two Nepali batsmen each.

Nepal’s medium pacers Avinash Karn and Jitendra Mukhiya claimed the first four wickets of the Sri Lankan club and captain Khadka dismissed one to limit Moors at 78/5 in 16.1 over.

Dilhara Lokuhettige, who has played nine ODI and two T20 matches for Sri Lanka, tried to anchor the Moors’ innings scoring 55 runs off 55 balls. Moors’ tail fell cheaply putting up small target of 148 runs to Nepal.

Besides Karn and Mukhiya, Shakti Gauchan and Anil Mandal claimed two wickets each. Skipper Khadka and Basant Regmi dismissed a batsman each.

Nepal will take on Sri Lanka Ports Authority Club on Tuesday in its third practice match.

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 Khadka claimed three wickets bowling 9.3 overs, including a maiden, and giving away 38 runs. Likewise, Karn’s bowling figure was 9-1-45-3. Meanwhile, Sagar Pun and Basant Regmi dismissed two batsmen each.

To guide Nepal to 232/6 in 47 overs, opener Khakurel scored 56 runs off 76 balls and Gyanendra Malla garnered 58 runs off 92 balls. Another opener Anil Mandal added 13 runs off 17 balls while skipper Khadka fell short to the crease after adding 12 runs off 18 balls.

Likewise, Sharad Vesawkar scored 17 runs off 28 balls and Binod Bhandari hit 21 runs off 32 balls. Pradeep Airee blasted unbeaten 27 runs off 19 balls and Sagar Pun remained not out with six runs off three balls.

Nepal will take on Moors Sports Club on Friday and lock horns with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority on December 24 and with Bloomfield Sports Club on December 26 during its stay in Sri Lanka. 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 held in New Zealand from January 16 to February 1, 2014.

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 held in New Zealand from January 16 to February 1, 2014.

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 Kumar Shrestha signed a memorandum of understanding to take Century as the official Bank of the CAN for the period of one year.

Meanwhile, Siddhartha Bank also awarded the national cricket team with the cash prize of Rs 25,000 each.

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 the global sports scene and the motivation to leave the mark in the World Cup.

Similarly, humbled with the felicitation, skipper of national team Paras Khadka said that the awards like these serves as the inspiration to take a further leap and homage to the hard work and dedication of the team.

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 was the outcome of impressive stride Nepal has taken in the international cricket in short time.

“The achievement Nepal has summoned in the international cricket, qualifying for the Twenty20 World Cup, is praiseworthy. The passion of the game runs deep in the bloodstream of players and spectators equally. Our assistance is like pat on the back to cover bigger grounds. We strongly believe that Nepal will leave their mark in the World Cup.

Sharing a light moment, Janjua further added that he had always stood opposite Nepal in the competitive matches, but this time he was standing shoulder to shoulder.

Apart from the apparels and equipments, Singa Steel will also be providing players with the match fees, for each matches played under the events organized by International Cricket Council. Not only this, players will also be rewarded with the incentives based on their performance.

Acknowledging the importance of sponsorship, national skipper Paras Khadka expressed his gratitude by underscoring the effect it could have upon the development of the game.

“We are privileged and thankful for our sponsors for such valuable support. To have such support at such a critical time is inspiring. This is just the beginning,” he said.

The sponsorship deal was initiated by Amir Akthar and Binod Das, former national cricketer and skipper respectively during the Journey to the World Cup event, held last week in Kathmandu.

Singa Steel also sponsor acclaimed cricketers like Kamran Akmal, Younus Khan, Khaleed Latif, Shajad Houssain of Pakistan, Sri Lankan Chaminda Vaas and Ravi Rampal of West Indies.

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 force has asked NSC to construct an indoor training hall in Kirtipur immediately. The task force has estimated the expenses of around Rs 15.30 million for the development of the physical components.

Meanwhile, the taskforce has suggested arranging a practice tour to either India or Sri Lanka before the ICC World T20. As Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has already arranged practice matches in Sri Lanka before the World Cup Qualifiers in New Zealand, the taskforce has incorporated it in its suggestion also. The task force has estimated the expenses of around Rs 23.04 million for the preparation and participation. The task force has said the preparation and participation expenses will be look after by CAN itself while NSC has to step in developing physical components.

“We have prepared the report on short-term plans. We tried to include the best possible things in the report,” said task force head Ghimire. “Though we have a CAN member in the task force, we could not met top level CAN officials,” lamented Ghimire.

Receiving the report, NSC Member Secretary Yuvaraj Lama said that the task of developing physical component would be started soon and completed by the time the team returns from New Zealand.

“We have a budget of around Rs 4 million at NSC for developing infrastructure for cricket. We can start up with this amount and ask more from government,” said Lama. “On the other hand CAN has grants from ICC and ACC for the expenses related to preparation and participation,” claimed Lama.

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 same task force to come up with detail plans to prepare and uplift the conditions of TU Cricket Ground, Mulpani Cricket Ground, Pokhara Cricket Ground, Bhairahawa Cricket Ground and Birgunj Cricket Ground within a month.

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 Association of Nepal (CAN) Vice-President TB Shah in the same program.

According to National Life Insurance CEO Bharat Basnet, the life insurance policies are for three years period while the accidental insurance policies are for a year only.

Likewise, National Life Insurance felicitated national team coach Pubudu Dassanayake and awarded him Rs 51,000.

Meanwhile, the insurance company declared cricket captain Paras Khadka as its brand ambassador. National Life’s Directors SK Singh and Rajiv Bikram Shah unveiled the company’s promotional banner with a slogan ‘National pride with National Life’.

“The whole team has earned this national pride and I’m happy the way you have honored us,” said skipper Khadka.

According to National Life CEO Basnet, Khadka will be benefited financially for endorsing the company. “Definitely, we’ll strike individual deal with Paras Khadka besides the policies. However, we are still negotiating it and can’t disclose all the details now,” said Basnet.

According to Basnet, the endorsement deal is for two years time.

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.

Nepali bowler Sompal Kami

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 recently concluded U-19 National Tournament and cemented his place in the national side after claiming 10 wickets in the four matches played during the Journey to World Cup Cricket Tournament that concluded on Saturday.

Kami is also in the Nepali squad preparing for the ACC U-19 Asia Cup to be held in Malaysia. However, CAN officials are looking for his replacement in the U-19. “There is only few days gap between the two tournaments and as he is called up in the national squad, we’ll look for his replacement in the U-19 squad,” said Kiran Rana, member at CAN.

Baskota, who sustained knee-injury during national team’s closed-camp training in mid-September and completed all the rehabilitation process, made a comeback during the Journey to World Cup Cricket tournament, where he won the hearts of coach and selectors again.

Prithu Baskota

The team announced under the captaincy of Paras Khadka, Gyanendra Malla retained the role of vice-captain. Other members in the team are Sharad Vesawkar, Shakti Gauchan, Basant Regmi, Binod Bhandari, Pradeep Airee, Anil Mandal, Sagar Pun, Jitendra Mukhiya, Mahesh Chhetri, Subash Khakurel and Avinash Karn.

The CAN has considered Naresh Bahadur Budhayer and Ram Naresh Giri as reserved players along with Bhattarai and Viswakarma.

Nepal is drawn alongside the UAE, Scotland, Canada and Hong Kong in the group A of the qualifiers of the 50-over (One-Dayers) World Cup. Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Kenya, Namibia and Uganda are drawn in the group B.

Top three teams of both the groups will progress to the second round super six play-offs.

Nepal will take on the UAE at Rangiora Oval in Christchurch on January 13 in its first match of the qualifiers. Nepal will lock horns with Scotland at QueenstownEventsCenter, Queenstown on January 16 and face Hong Kong on January 19 at Rangiora Oval. Nepal will take on Canada in its last group stage match on January 21 at Hagley Oval, Christchurch.

Ten sides are to battle in the qualifying tournament for the remaining two places in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, due to be played in Australia and New Zealand from 14 February to 29 March 2015.

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 for 148 runs for the fourth wicket. Bhandari who scored the highest 79 off 63 for Nepal, smashed seven fences and three sixes before being bowled by Hitem Dalal in 40.6 over. Skipper Khadka who garnered 61 off 57 hammered six fours and a six. Khadka was caught and bowled by Kuldip Singh in the last delivery of the 40th over.

Earlier, openers Subash Khakurel (9 of 18) and Anil Mandal (45 off 68) contributed for the home team backed by noisy supporters. Mandal hit seven boundaries.

Number three batsman Sagar Pun (35 off 42) and Pradeep Airee (not out 27 off 14) were the other batsmen for Nepal to contributed double digit.

Air India team with trophy.

Sarad Vesawkar (8) returned to the pavilion cheaply while Raj Kumar Pradhan, included by coach Pubudu Dassanayake in his team for the first time, remained unbeaten without scoring. He faced single delivery.

Hiten Dalal was the most successful bowler for India claiming two wickets apiece in his four over spell giving away 36 runs. Raj Bahadur Singh also claimed two wickets in his nine over spell, conceding 52 runs. Faruk Seikh, Kuldip Singh and Sandip Raj Kausik, Jagrit Anand claimed a wicket each.

Air India made a solid start in the run chase as openers Dalal (67) and Manish Sharma (33) put 90 run stand for the first wicket. Dalal quick-fired three sixes and four nines in his 46 ball knock before being caught by Prithu Baskota off Raj Kumar Pradhan.

Fourth order Pradip Malik was the second highest scorer for Air India contributing 64 off 67. He hammered three sixes and four boundaries. Shafiq Khan (not out 41 off 24), Sandip Raj Kausik (34 off 53) Jagrit Anand (26 off 36) and Chandan Madan (not out 2) all had notable contributions for the visiting side.

Sagar Pun claimed two wickets for Nepal in his nine over spell giving away 38 runs. Basanta Regmi, Paras Khadka and Raj Kumar Pradhan claimed a scalp each. Som Pal Kami turned to be the most expensive bowler of Nepal conceding 78 runs in his 8.2 over spell.

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 submit its report on the preparation within a week.

Likewise, NSC has asked the same task-force to come up with detail plans to prepare and uplift the conditions of TU Cricket Ground, Mulpani Cricket Ground, Pokhara Cricket Ground, Bhairahawa Cricket Ground and Birgunj Cricket Ground within a month.

Meanwhile, the meeting asked the CAN to furnish clarification within a week about the heavy fine slapped by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to it for not submitting financial report on time.

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 of the batsmen to excel. Mandal garnered 58 runs off 80 balls including four boundaries and two sixes. Khakurel struck a run-a-ball 75 hitting 10 boundaries. Gyanendra Malla, the stand-in captain as Paras Khadka was given rest for the match, added 48 runs off 48 balls. Malla hit five boundaries.

Vesawkar, who earned the reputation of match-winner during the recently concluded ICC World T20 Qualifiers, came blazing all his guns and played a blistering knock. Vesawkar clobbered eight sixes and four boundaries. He struck five sixes in a single over bowled by Vijay Kumar Saladore. In the 39th over, he pulled 30 runs. Vesawkar struck two sixes in the last two balls of the innings to Amjad Mehboob.

Man-of-the-match Sharad Vesawkar.

Prithu Baskota chipped in with 18 runs off 19 balls down the order.

Amjad Mehboob and Vijay Kumar Saladore took two wickets each while Singapore captain Saad Khan Janjua claimed one.

Singapore never got a chance to settle while chasing the huge total. Anish Edward Param (19 runs) and Saladore (12 runs) were only the batsmen to produce double-digit scores.

Besides Kami and Pradhan, Jitendra Mukhiya and Basant Regmi claimed two wickets each. It was a comeback match for Pradhan, who had left Nepal in 2010 for foreign employment.

Vesawkar was adjudged man-of-the-match for his fierce batting.

In the final on Saturday, Nepal will take on Air India, which it had defeated in the league round.

Air India beat Delhi Wanderers by 39 runs on Friday at the Pulchowk Engineering Ground. Batting first, Air India was all out for 177 runs in 35.2 overs. In reply, Delhi Wanderers bundled out for 138 runs in 33.3 overs as Faruk Sheikh claimed four wickets.