Denmark elected to bat first but it was all out for 82 runs in 19.1 overs. [break]
Gauchan was the hero of Nepali bowling attack. He gave the first breakthrough to Nepal in the first ball of his first spell. He bowled Shehzad Ahmed (11 runs).
Danish top order got the start but could not turn it to big one. Michael Pedersen (13 runs) was short of the crease. Sanjam Regmi bowled opener Freddie Klokker (21 runs).
Denmark was at 58/3 after the completion of 12 overs. Nepali skipper called Gauchan for his second spell in the 13th over, which turned the match. Paras Khadka caught Rizwan Mahmood (11 runs) off Gauchan in the second ball of the over. Then, Gauchan bowled Aftab Ahmed and trapped Kamran Mahmood lbw in the next two balls to complete hat-trick.
Prithu Baskota claimed the wickets of Bobby Chawla (7 runs) and James Moniz (13 runs) while Basanta Regmi took the wicket of Bashir Shah (1 run). Raja Basit Javed was also short of the crease.
In reply, Nepal lost opener Paresh Lohani (3 runs) with 7 runs on board in the second over. However, Pradeep Airee and Sharad Vesawkar put up 78 runs partnership for the second wicket to guide Nepal to 85/1 in 12.4 overs.
Airee smacked seven boundaries and four huge sixes to score 65 runs off 43 balls with the strike rate of 151.16. Airee lofted the fourth ball of the 11th over off Bashir Shah over the head of the umpire to bring up his fifty. Airee signed off the blistering innings with a six off Pedersen.
It was the second victory of Nepal in the Qualifiers. Nepal defeated Hong Kong by 28 runs in its first match on Tuesday.
Nepal will take on Papua New Guinea on Thursday in the third match of the tournament.
First international hat-trick
Shakti Gauchan was dropped from the national squad during the ACC T20 Cup held in Kathmandu in December.
"I was a bit upset about being dropped then but I improved my form to make my comeback possible," Gauchan had told Republica before flying to the UAE to participate in the ICC World T20 Qualifiers.
As Gauchan scripted Nepal´s victory against Denmark on Wednesday taking four wickets that included a hat-trick, he proved that he really has improved his form.
Gauchan gave the first breakthrough as he bowled Shehzad Ahmed in his first spell. Gauchan started his second spell in the 13th over of the innings. Paras Khadka caught Rizwan Mahmood off Gauchan in the second ball of the over. Then, Gauchan bowled Aftab Ahmed and trapped Kamran Mahmood lbw in the next two balls to complete hat-trick.
It is the first international hat-trick by a Nepali bowler in men´s section in any form of the game.
"I never think about records or stat while entering the ground. I knew it was the first international hat-trick by a Nepali bowler only when our team manager Diwakar Ghale told me in the innings-break," said Gauchan in a telephone conversation.
"The most important thing for me is the victory of my team. The hat-trick is just a cherry on the cake," he added.
Gauchan completed his spell with a figure of 4-0-20-4. It is the third best bowling figure for a Nepali bowler at the international level in the T20 format.
Earlier, Dipendra Chaudhary had taken four wickets giving away 11 runs against Kuwait in ACC T20 Cup in 2009 and claimed four wickets against Oman giving away 19 runs in the same tournament.
"My family and well wishers supported me to make this comeback possible," said Gauchan.
He also said that the entire team is focusing on the match against Papua New Guinea now. Nepal is taking on PNG on Thursday.
"We have to continue the rhythm we have gained from the first two matches to beat PNG," said Gauchan. "It could be too early to talk about World Cup qualification. We just have to continue our rhythm and focus on winning the next match against PNG," he added.
Shakti Gauchan celebrates hat-trick. (Photo courtesy: ICC)
(Photo courtesy: ICC)
(Photo courtesy: ICC)
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