Nepal bowled out Singapore for 164 in 47.5 overs after scoring 180/9 in 50 overs. Basanta Regmi and Sanjam Regmi dominated the proceedings in either innings. [break]
“It was not luck, rather it was the determination,” Nepal´s coach Roy Dias said after the nervous win. “The determination in bowling and fielding brought us the win.”
In a hard fought match that could have gone either way, Nepal prevailed by the clever use of spin bowling that was introduced in the seventh over.
Off spinner Sanjam, who took the first two wickets after Singapore began well the run-chase, took two wickets in the 48th over to conclude the match.
When Sanjam bowled a no-ball and then the free-hit went for a six, it looked like Singapore would surprise the hosts. But he bowled Mohamed Shoib the very next ball for 14 and Jackie Manoj sky-rocketed the third ball he played to backward square where Dipendra Chaudhary took a running catch.
Sanjam finished the match at 4/28 while Basant Regmi (2/33), Rahul BK (1/42), Shakti Gauchan (1/29) and spin-bowling Paras Khadka (1/5) supported the cause for win.
“The wicket was not supporting the pacers, so we had to bring in spinners early on,” captain Paras commented.
Singapore began the innings well with Buddhika Mendis and Chetan Suryawanshi adding 29 in eight overs. Mendis was out on 13 stumped by Mahesh Chhetri off Sanjam. New man Chandrasekar Venkadaramani (3) was caught off edge by Shakti as spinners dominated the proceedings.
Paras saved Sanjam after seven overs and rotated between other spinners and himself to control the runs and take wickets occasionally. Anish Param played a patient innings anchoring partnerships.
Suryawanshi contributed 29 off 53; captain Munish Arora 20 off 42 to take the team to 93/3 in 31 overs. Dharmichand Mulewa and Riaz Hussein could not stay long for Singapore while big-hitting Saad Janjua was bowled by Rahul on the first batting powerplay over.
Janjua, however, hit Rahul for two sixes at long-on and made 15 off 11 balls. Param, who got 41 off 79 balls, stayed long and his dismissal off Shakti stumped by Mahesh in the 44th over was a big success for Nepal as it exposed the tail-enders.
“Of course a tough luck,” Singapore´s coach Marvan Atapattu commented. “There is nothing much to differentiate the two teams but unfortunately we did not have enough wickets for the last 10 overs.”
The former Sri Lankan star-batsman also blamed the wickets for the loss. “The spinners bowled well on a spinners´ wicket; the wicket is unsatisfactory for one-day cricket,” he said, adding that the wicket played rough for second-batting team.
The wicket also played unexpected for Paras, who won the toss and elected to bat first. “I didn´t expect the wickets to seam, but it did for the first 20 overs and the Singaporean bowlers bowled on right spots,” he said.
Nepal lost three wickets in the first 20 overs for 43 runs as batsmen struggled to cope with the bowling. Mehboob Alam and Dipendra Chaudhary failed in the second match straight as the opening pair.
Middle-order batsmen got the start with Shakti (24), Sharad (32) and Paras (18) getting the start but failing to continue.
The hero of the innings was man-of-the-match Basanta, who batted with ease to reach a half-century and partnered Sharad for 61 runs to take Nepal to 135/5. He was the last man out in the innings that concluded at a lowly total of 180/9.
Basanta made 54 off 61 balls with five fours and was cheered up by 2,500 fans for his innings and demanded to see him after he won the man-of-the-match award.
Mulewa was the most successful bowler with 3/34 while pacer Janjua took two. Manoj and Mendis grabbed a wicket each.
“The partnership of Sharad and Basanta was the turning point as they took us to a defendable total,” Paras said.
Dias praised Basanta´s innings saying he played according to the need of the situation.
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