ACC trophy elite: Paras powers Nepal to 125-run win over HK
KATHMANDU, OCT 10 -
Nepal advanced to the semi-finals of the ACC Trophy Elite with their 125 runs triumph over Hong Kong at the GCA 1 UAE on Tuesday. In a must win match, Nepal excelled with both the bat and the ball to register a comprehensive win and take the pole position in group B on head-to-head basis. Nepal will now take on Malaysia in the semi-final at the Sheikh Zayed Ground on Wednesday.
The finalist of the tournament will qualify to play in the ACC Emerging Teams event next year where they will lock their horns with ‘A’ teams from the four test playing nations.
“We have done all the hard work and are only two matches away from the winning the trophy.” Nepal’s coach Pubudu Dassanayake said, “We will not let complacency settle in now.”
In a slow turning pitch, Nepal elected to bat and piled up 225 for the loss of seven wickets. Aided by the return of left-arm medium pacer Amrit Bhattarai, Nepal packed Hong Kong out for 100 runs in 37 overs.
Bhattarai and spinner Basanta Regmi shared three wickets each while Shakti Gauchan claimed one wicket for Nepal.
Hong Kong did not have a good start and in the absence of a good partnership, they simply did not get back in the match. Hong Kong had yet to open their scoring when Bhattarai got rid of Irfan Ahmed in the last ball of the first over. Paras Khadka got rid of the next two batsmen.
Babar Hayat then held the innings top scoring with 27 runs not out but the rest of the batsman were in a hurry to get back to the pavilion. Tanwir Afzal contributed 22 runs.
Earlier, Nepal too had a few hiccups when they lost opener Subash Khakurel out for duck in the second ball of the first over. In -form batsmen Gyanendra Malla, who had been prompted to open the inning then added 28 runs while Anil Mandal who had swapped place with Malla chipped in 37 runs. Together they stitched 70 runs partnership for the second wicket.
However, it was skipper Khadka who stole the show with his 54-ball 61 runs including two sixes and six boundaries. Basanta Regmi and Pardeep Airee added 31 and 25 runs respectively.
“The pitch was not batting friendly and yet our batsmen put up a good total,” Dassanayake said, “especially Paras and Gyanendra and a lot will rest on their shoulders in the semi-final as Malaysia are a good side.”
Nepal won by 125 runs
Asian Cricket Council Trophy Elite - Group B
Nepal innings (50 overs maximum)
SP Khakurel†c N Khan b T Afzal 0
G Malla lbw b N Khan 28
AK Mandal b KC Shah 37
P Khadka*c Atkinson b N Khan 61
S Vesawkar c N Ahmed b KC Shah 14
B Regmi c N Ahmed b Irfan Ahmed 31
P Airee not out 25
P Baskota b Tanwir Afzal 12
SP Gauchan not out 5
Extras (lb 1, w 10, nb 1) 12 Total (7 wickets; 50 overs) 225 (4.50 runs
Fow 1-0, 2-70, 3-80, 4-112, 5-169, 6-179,
Bowling: Tanwir Afzal (10-1-44-2), Irfan Ahmed (7-0-36-1), Nadeem Ahmed (9-1-41-0), Nizakat Khan (10-0-34-2), KC Shah (9-0-51-2), Daljeet Singh (5-0-18-0)
Hong Kong innings (target: 226 runs from 50 overs)
Irfan Ahmed c Vesawkar b Bhattarai 0
Waqas Barkat b Regmi 18
JJ Atkinson* c Vesawkar b Khadka 11
Nizakat Khan c Khadka b Gauchan 0
Anshuman Rath† c & b Khadka 6
B Hayat not out 27
KC Shah lbw b Regmi 0
Tanwir Afzal c Vesawkar b Bhattarai 22
Daljeet Singh b Bhattarai 0
Nadeem Ahmed c Malla b Regmi 6
KD Shah run out (Karki) 0
Extras (b 1, lb 5, w 4) 10 Total (all out; 37 overs) 100 (2.70 runs
FoW: 1-0, 2-31, 3-33, 4-43, 5-43, 6-43, 7-76, 8-77, 9-92, 10-100
Bowling: A Bhattarai 8-1-26-3, P Khadka 6-1-8-2, B Regmi 9-4-20-3, SP Gauchan 6-2-13-1, P Baskota 2-0-6-0, B Karki 6-0-21-0
Toss: Nepal, who chose to bat
Points Nepal 2, Hong Kong 0
Player of the match P Khadka (Nepal)
Nepal v Malaysia in semi-final
Posted on: 2012-10-10 08:21