Posts

Showing posts from July, 2022

India humiliate insipid Nepal

Image
In a stunning turn of events,defending champions and hosts India demolished insipid Nepal 8-0 in the  men’s South Asian Federation Football Under-20 Championship in Bhubaneswar, India Sunday . The Indians smarting from a surprise 2-1 defeat at the hands of Bangladesh in the opener were in a must win situation against Nepal to  redeem themselves and stay in the competition. They bounced back in a big way and stamped their authority and dominance on the match in style.They outwitted,outplayed and outpaced the opponent in every department of the game. As expected, Team India resorted to an attacking brand of play from the outset.Making their intentions clear,they  came bursting out of the gate seeking an early goal. The offense showed good communication,coordination, and created a host of  clear-cut scoring chances in the early part of the game. It was abundantly clear that the Nepali defense could not afford to become slack and, more importantly, had to hold their ground under intense p

Nepal must ride on momentum against India

Image
The men’s  under-20 national football team of Nepal competing in  the  South Asian Football Federation Championship  in Bhubaneswar,India has got off to a blistering start. Although Nepal and Bangladesh have an equal number of points,the former are atop the standings because of a better goal difference. The talented Nepali outfit skippered by international Ayush Ghalan churned out a strong ,impressive,determined  and consistent performance in both matches. They  looked sharp,confident, aggressive,cohesive and intent to win.They played like a well oiled machine, dominating the proceedings and maintaining the tempo of the match throughout . Both offensively and defensively,they were effective and up to the task. The offense successfully worked in tandem with midfielders to launch coordinated attacks. In addition,individual brilliance,pace,clinical finish and solid defensive  work  also contributed to the success. The youngsters were in the right frame of mind and gave a good account of t

Nepal ‘s batting in absolute shambles

Image
The men’s national cricket team of Nepal wrapped up the ICC  Cricket World Cup  League 2 with a  humiliating defeat at the hands of hosts  Scotland in Scotland recently. The home team comfortably cruised to a  8 wicket victory in just 19 overs after cheaply dismissing the opponent for a dismal total of 128  in 35.5 overs only. Another day,another match and another batting slump , best sums up Nepal’s agonizing performance on the final day of the competition.Batting was at its worst. The batting line-up collapsed like a pack of cards. Such substandard was the  performance that a negligible 71 runs came off the bat of seven top order batters  (from opener Kushal Bhurtel to wicket keeper Binod Bhandari).If you take away Aasif Sheikh’s individual score of 40, the six contributed an embarrassing 31 runs.   They batted though they were in a hurry to catch a bus. They were guilty of throwing away wickets and clearly lacked the ability to play big and long innings. Defending a modest total was

Shaky batting sinks Nepal against Scotland

Image
Namibia  prevailed over a mediocre  and out-of-sorts Nepal in the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 in Scotland Saturday. Namibia for the second successive match tasted  victory against  favorites but inconsistent Nepal.They comfortably won by 63 runs. The winners opted to bat first  after winning the toss, however, the decision  seemed to have backfired as they lost quick wickets.  They  fought back from 112 for 6 and 151 for 7  to post a fighting score of 199 in  49.2 overs.Notably the tailenders  made valuable contributions to the total. Going into the match against Namibia,following  a convincing win over Scotland, expectation was high and Nepal had the  chance to settle the score. The combination of spin and pace attack reduced Namibia to 112 for 6.Things looked promising for Nepal but proved short-lived as they failed to clean up the innings. Skipper Sandeep Lamichhane and Sompal Kami bowled extremely well and had  the batters  at their mercy. Leggie Lamichhane produced another supe

Encouraging win by Nepal over Scotland

Image
Finally Nepal turned in a good performance to stun hostsScotland by 5 wickets in the second match of the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 in Scotland Wednesday. Following  a disappointing loss to Namibia in the opener,Nepal bounced  back with an encouraging victory against the home team.The win was comprehensive and convincing. Once again the bowlers laid the groundwork  for victory.After winning the toss, Nepal elected to field first and in no time had the opposition on the back foot. The  pace attack took full advantage of the seam -friendly conditions and wreaked havoc on batsmen. Right-arm fast -medium bowler Sompal Kami made the early breakthrough and went on to capture three wickets.He bowled with precision and generated extra pace to torment batsmen. The new kid on the block 18 year old Aadil Ansari had an impressive 10 over  spell.He maintained good pace, line and length  throughout .He claimed 3 wickets for 31 runs. And Skipper Sandeep Lamichane ended up with two wickets. Nepali

Dismal batting against Namibia cost Nepal the match

Image
The men’s national cricket team of Nepal hit another disappointing bump in the road in the ongoing ICC Cricket World  Cup League 2 in Scotland Monday. In a surprise outcome,Namibia turned the tables on Nepal  by 40 runs, much to Nepali fans' chagrin. The winners bounced back after losing to Scotland  in the first match.It was a well deserved victory for the Namibians.They performed effectively as a unit which ultimately was key to the success. After winning the toss,Namibia elected to bat first and scored  a fighting 220 runs in 47.3 overs.Although Nepal’s  seven pronged bowling attack spearheaded  by  skipper Sandeep Lamichane performed reasonably well, however, they failed to make the critical breakthrough  with the opposition reeling at 144 for 6 for the second straight match.  The seventh wicket partnership yielded 50 important runs for Namibia which proved crucial and handy  at the end of the day. Leg spinner Lamichhane was in his own element picking up four wickets,while Somp

Batting frailty continues for Nepal

Image
  The men’s national cricket team of Nepal wrapped up the short tour of Canada on a disappointing note with a humiliating defeat. Nepal went into the two  unofficial One Day Internationals(ODI) against a less experienced Canada as the favorites. They had the upper hand in every department of the game based on statistics, and they were projected to win the series.  After  convincingly winning two friendly matches(50 over and Twenty20) against an unheralded Toronto side Nepal’s win probability went up further. Much to the disappointment, the first ODI was washed out without a single ball bowled due to inclement weather. As a result, the visitors lost valuable playing time.  Contrary to expectations, host Canada stunned the heavily favored opponent winning the second ODI  comfortably  by 83 runs at close of play. Batting first, Canada  managed a competitive total of 188 in 50 overs.A defiant last wicket partnership between Shreyas Movva(50 not out) and Ammar Khalid(30 not out) made the bi

Nepal must demonstrate ability to produce, win matches.

Image
  Currently the men’s national cricket team of Nepal is in Canada to play a series of matches starting 1st July before they head to Scotland. The  tour  starts with two friendly  matches in Ontario,followed by two ODIs(50-Over) against the Canadian national team on  July 4th  and 5th. The visitors got off to a winning start against MLCC XI in a 50-over match at the time of writing this article.They won by 69 runs.They are scheduled to play a T20 match against Ontario tonight(July 2nd). The warm-up win was  a morale booster for the team and, more importantly ,riding on  this  momentum against Canada in the two ODIs is a must for a positive outcome. Players get yet another chance to showcase  their talent and shine.They have to put in extra effort to work on their shortcomings to minimize it.Getting into a positive  frame of mind and  achieving hundred percent focus and concentration on their performance is a must. From Canada they  fly to Scotland to compete in the ICC Cricket World Cup