KATHMANDU, JUL 19 - Nepal’s hopes of playing in the second consecutive World Twenty20 formally ended on Saturday after losing to a lower-ranked Jersey by seven wickets in their last Group ‘A’ match of the Qualifiers at The Village grounds in Dublin where they diplayed another dismal batting performance.
Put to bat first under difficult batting conditions, Nepal toiled hard to reach 105-8 in 20 overs with Siddhant Lohani lifting them above triple figures in his debut game with the national side. Jersey reached 107-3 in 16.1 overs without much fuss.
Nepal finished at the bottom of the seven-team pool after USA stunned Hong Kong by seven wickets in a late game on Saturday. USA have four points along with Jersey with both teams still in the hunt for playoffs. Nepal’s only victory of the tournament came against the USA before their match against Namibia was washed out.
Namibia, who crushed Papua New Guinea (PNG) by 49 runs in the day’s other match, lead the table with seven points from four games on net run rate. PNG (seven), Ireland (six), Namibia (five) and Hong Kong (five) are behind Namibia.
The remaining mathematical possibilities, under the condition they beat Jersey by huge margin and expect results from other games go their way, also vanished for Nepal after top order flopped once again. Skipper Paras Khadka said his side was not able to adapt to game plans.
“It’s been a very bad tournament for us, nothing has worked. We have tried different combinations and none of the plans have worked. It just didn’t happen for us this time. I wouldn’t say it was because of conditions. We just haven’t been able to adapt our game plans as much as we would have liked,” he told a post match conference. “There’s a lot we can learn from this tournament, and hopefully we’ll come back with flying colours next time,” the Nepali skipper added.
Nepal’s batting performance was a reflection of their previous matches, starting off with two quick wickets of openers Binod Bhandari (three) and Pradeep Airee (two). Bhandari was promoted up the order after Sagar Pun had to be rested following a knee injury in the match against PNG on Friday.
Khadka (seven) and Gyanendra Malla offered a brief resistance with a 23-run partnership before Nepal lost their skipper as life became hard for other batsmen. Rajesh Pulami (four) was next to be dismissed at 40-4 in 10.5 overs. Sharad Vesawkar and Malla added another 23 runs on the board before the latter lost his wicket while trying to up the ante.
Malla made 26 off 33 with a boundary. As Nepal headed towards yet another low total, Lohani provided some entertainment to the Nepali supporters, who turned up for the game, smashing two sixes and as many fours in his 16-ball 27. Both of his sixes came through unorthodox shots.
Vesawkar was Nepal’s third best scorer with 16 off 20 balls. Nat Watkins picked up 3-20 from four overs for Jersey, while Anthony Kay took 2-18 from four.
Nepal had a bright start in their defense when Shakti Gauchan dismissed Ed Parley for a duck in the second over. But Peter Gough and Jonty Jenner anchored the innings with a 55-run stand. Nepal got rid of both set batsmen in a space of two runs before Cornelis Bodenstein (27) and Ben Stevens (13) steered them home safely with a 44-run partnership.
Nepal will now shift their focus on the ICC World Cricket League Championships matches against Scotland, scheduled for July 30 and 31. Khadka hoped the change in format will work for his side. “We’ve got some matches against Scotland in the World Cricket League coming up, so a change in format may help,” said the Nepal skipper.
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