Nepal, Bangladesh to vie for title

Published On: December 16, 2017 09:27 AM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, Dec 16: Nepal advanced into the final of the first International Wheelchair Cricket Championship with a 65-run win over India on Friday.

At the Tribhuvan University (TU) International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur, Nepal lost the toss and was made to bat first before it gave a target of 152 runs for the loss of four wickets in 14 overs with the help of a half-century from opener Nabin Rai.

Man-of-the-match Nabin scored 50 runs off 42 balls that included six boundaries, while the other big hitter was Bipin Paudyal who hit 25 runs off 15 balls comprising of five boundaries for Nepal.

Raju Gurung added 23 runs off 14 balls including four boundaries while the other Nepali opener Digam Chemjong Limbu scored 16 runs off nine balls including three boundaries.

The other batsmen of the winning team Dan Bahadur Thing and Jung Bahadur Thapa went back to the pavilion for ducks.

India’s bowling had to suffer a lot as only two bowlers claimed wickets. Only Lalit Pathak and Amit Kumar Singh pocketed, two wickets each, for the losing side.

In reply, India could not stand Nepali bowling and was limited to 86 for seven in 14 overs. Opener Saurabh Malik hit 25 runs off 15 balls that included five boundaries, while Sunil Kumar Patel scored 13 runs off 18 balls including two boundaries.

The other double-digit hitter was Ramesh Sartape as he hit 10 runs off 12 balls comprising of two boundaries, while Kamalkar Karale, Anwar Sheikh, Lalit Pathak, Rahul Ramugade and Digvijay Singh added eight runs, seven runs, five runs, two runs and a run respectively for India.
Nepal’s Yam Bahadur Shrestha and Bishnu Adhikari picked two wickets each while Raju Katwal claimed a wicket for the winning team.

In other match played on the same day, Bangladesh defeated India by six wickets.
Nepal finished on the top of the standing with four points from two games, while Bangladesh finished second with two points. India crashed out of the tournament with no points at all.
Now, Nepal will face Bangladesh again in the final on Saturday.