KATHMANDU, Aug 3: Nepal lost its match against Canada by three wickets in the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier played at Bready Cricket Club, Bready, Northen Ireland on Wednesday.
Losing the toss, Nepal were invited to bat first and Canada´s powerful bowling attack restricted Nepal at just 106 runs off 42.5 over.
Canada successfully chased the target losing seven wickets in 48.2 over.[break] Kyle Edghill completed his half century with a boundary which was the winning run.
Despite the defeat, Nepal still has chance to qualify for the World Cup. The match against Namibia on Thursday is vital for Nepal. If Nepal wins the match against Namibia it will be helpful for them to qualify for the World Cup.
Nepal continued to show the failure in the batting against Canada as Nepal lost its first wicket when the total was just six runs on board. Fajlur Rahman´s wicket was the first one to fall for Nepal following which the team continued to lose wickets at regular intervals.
Naresh Budhaayer, who had completed half century in the match against Kenya, was the next one to fall. Budhaayer scored six runs before being caught in the mid-wicket region. Rajesh Pulami, who usually came at the sixth position, came to bat as third and soon followed the way of other two batsmen. Pulami scored 10 runs off 28 balls before being trapped LBW.
Another half century maker and opener, Sagar Pun was playing good but he also gave away his wicket cheaply. Pun was trapped LBW after facing 59 balls. Nepal was at 55 runs with the loss of four wickets by the end of 22nd over. Nepal continued its poor show losing skipper Prithu Baskota in the first ball of the 24th over. Baskota scored 10 runs off 25 balls before being caught on mid-wicket.
Nischal Pandey, who replaced Subhendu Pandey, did not stay long in the crease. Pandey was trapped LBW with his personal two runs. Bhuwan Karki and Krishna Karki both were sent back to the pavilion for duck. Pradeep Airee and Rahul BK batted for six over to guide the team to 100 runs. Airee scored 22 runs off 42 balls with a six and a boundary. BK´s, who was the last wicket to fall, scored 15 runs off 35 balls with two boundaries.
Trevor Manoosing and Kesavan Juvarajan took three wickets each while Jobanjot Singh and Nitish Kumar grabbed two wickets each.
Canada had good start with 19 runs from three over as they punished Nepali fast bowlers. With the introduction of spinners in the fourth over, Nepal broke the partnership. Akash Shah was short to the crease with his personal three runs. Rahul BK took the wicket of Nitin Kumar, in the first ball of the spell, when he was at 16 runs off 17 balls. Kumar struck three boundaries before trapped LBW. After the fall of Kumar, Umpires called for the lunch.
Nikhil Dutta (4) was sent back to the pavilion in the third ball of eighth over. Canada was 25/ 3 by the end of eighth over. Krishna Karki, the most expensive bowler for Nepal, was brought for the second spell and took the wicket of Gurkaran Dhilon for duck. Karki had conceded 14 runs in the two over of his first spell. Skipper Baskota introduced Bhuwan Karki for second spell, who proved to be worthy as he grabbed the wicket of Kesavan Juvarajan (2).
After 20 over, Nepal finally got the breakthrough as Sagar Pun grabbed two wickets in his fifth over. Pun´s first victim was Darren Ramsammy who was at 10 runs off 70 balls. In the next ball Pun sent Rayyan Pathan back to the pavilion for duck.
Edghill was not out in the crease with 53 runs off 133 balls that included thee boundaries. Bhuwan Karki and Sagar Pun grabbed two wickets while Rahul BK and Krishna Karki took a wicket each.
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