Winning the toss for the fifth time in a row, Nepal opted to bat first and was restricted to 151 off 20 overs for the loss of nine wickets. England successfully chased the target in just 8.2 overs without losing a wicket.[break]
Nepal´s innings fumbled from the beginning. With 19 runs on board, vice-captain Bikram Bahadur Rana (2) was stumped. Khima Nanda Gaire (13 of 10) was short on the crease as in the previous matches. Nepal continued to lose wickets in regular intervals. Ram Prasad Poudel (9) and Surya Bhattarai (3) were the other Nepali batsmen sent back to the pavilion cheaply.
Sunil Subedi and Amar Oli shared 23 runs partnership for the fourth wickets to guide the team for the big total. Subedi was sent back to the pavilion for 18 runs off 25 balls in the last ball of the 11th over with 79 runs on board. Oli scored 20 runs off 16 balls before being run out. Padam Badela scored two runs while skipper Jay Sagar Giri (7) and Rajendra Dhital (8) were run out.
Shankar Regmi (6) and Santosh Shapkota (16) were unbeaten on the crease. Luke Sugg was the successful bowler for England as he took two wickets conceding 22 runs. Mo Khatri and Andy Power grabbed a wicket each. English bowlers gave away 47 runs as extras.
In course of run chase, the opening pair of England Power and Matt Dean punished every Nepali bowler. The pair scored 28 runs in the first over and scored 50 runs by the end of the second over. Powers scored 77 runs off 31 balls while Dean scored 63 runs off 25 balls. Nepali bowlers had bowled on line as they gave only 13 runs as extras.
Skipper Giri said that the batsmen and fielders did not perform well. “We had practiced less in Nepal prior to the tournament which is also the reason for the defeat.”
“Had we practiced on the real pitch for a longer period, we could have defeated a few teams,” added Giri.
Coach Ganga Prasad Poudel said that the running between the wickets was a major problem for the team. “If we improve our fielders and running between the wickets we can still win a match in the tournament.”
Nepal will face host India at Aditya Global Sports Ground, Nelamangla on Saturday.
(Ghimire contributes to Republica from Bangalore)
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