Though at a lesser impact, Nepal´s Binod Bhandari repeated something similar on Monday when he hit a six off the last ball against Kuwait in the ACC T20 Elite Cup to end the match on a tie. Here are some of the rare moments of Nepali cricket:
Mehboob´s double century
In 2003, Mehboob Alam scored 256 runs in a 40-over match between Saptari and Udayapur districts in the Birendra Memorial National League Regional. At Pashupati School Ground of Siraha, Mehboob astonished everyone by hitting 26 fours and 18 sixes in his 123-ball knock. Saptari scored a total of 419/4 and won by 315 runs. “It was a tsunami,” match referee Shirish Upadhyay said. Even in ODIs, there has not been a double century yet.
Victory in two balls
Nepal vs Myanmar match in the 2006 ACC Trophy in Malaysia lasted just 12.3 overs -- 12.1 overs was taken by Myanmar to score 10 all out and two balls by Nepal for the victory.
Openers Mahesh Chhetri and Gyanendra Malla each scored three runs while five balls were thrown wide by Myanmar. Only two Nepali players bowled in the match -- Mehboob (7/3) and Binod Das (3/4).
Maiden last over for win
Nepali U-15 team was on the verge of a definite loss against Oman in the ACC U-15 Elite Cup match at the Institute of Engineering Ground in Kathmandu in 2008. Oman needed two runs off the last over and they had two wickets with Gaurav Vinay unbeaten on 79.
Left-arm spinner Bhuwan Karki was handed over the ball to bowl the last over. Gaurav played two dot balls, did not run on the third for a run and the Qatari player was beaten on next three for an exceptional one-run victory for Nepal.
Perfect 10 for Mehboob
It was the ICC World Cricket League Division 5 event in 2006 in Jersey. Mehboob Alam created a history in the ICC event by taking all 10 wickets in an innings against Mozambique.
Mehboob bowled 7.5 overs giving away 12 runs during the memorable match. Nine batsmen did not even score in the innings as Mehboob bowled a deadly line to bowl five and trap four lbw. Ten wickets in an innings is a dream for any bowler and in Tests, only Jim Laker of England and Anil Kumble of India have achieved the feat.
Five wickets in 5 balls
In the ACC Women Twenty20 in Malaysia in 2009, Singapore needed two runs off the last over for victory with five wickets intact. Rubina Chhetri was given the ´hopeless´ over but he did a miracle by taking five wickets in five balls as the match ended in a draw as she threw a wide. Nepal won the bowl-out.
With the rare incident, Rubina also became the first Nepali cricketer, man or woman, to take a hat-trick. “I have never heard that any team has won the match taking five wickets in the last over, this is very, very rare,” the then captain Binod Das commented.
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