Encouraging win by Nepal over Scotland

-



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 bowlers maintained relentless pressure on batsmen and reduced them to 95 for 9. However, like previous matches, they allowed the defiant  last wicket partnership add 49 runs before mopping  up the innings in 42.5 over for a paltry total of  144.

Nepal’s fielding  and close-in- catching was up to the mark and contributed significantly to the team’s success.

Despite a modest target, given the team’s inconsistent batting record there was  no guarantee that they could seal a victory outright. 

They required  a solid  disciplined, consistent committed and intelligent batting  to avoid another disappointment. 

On the day, they rose to the challenge and delivered the result.Right - handed wicket keeper and top scorer Aasif  Sheikh cracked a blistering 71,which featured 10 fours  and one huge six in just 62 balls.

Middle-order batsman Rohit Paudel batted sensibly and  steadied the innings with a well  struck 34 runs with the help of  five fours.

 Opener Kushal Bhurtel who shared  47 runs partnership with Sheikh contributed a laborious 27 with 4 hits to the boundary.The winning run was scored in the 25.1 overs much to everyones relief.

Without a doubt, there is plenty of scope for improvement in every department of the game.Players must find ways to address  their weaknesses and improve performance. It is imperative  that they effectively perform  as a unit in the upcoming matches.

Nepal  plays Namibia for the second  time on Saturday. They cannot afford to repeat the  same mistakes to avoid another loss.

They need to maintain a razor  sharp focus,confidence,  positive mind set,believe in themselves,get the fundamentals right and play to their potential.

Cricket is a team game but individual performance counts  and makes a  huge difference at the end of the day.Each player must stand up to the challenge and deliver the goods.


A solid batting performance and consistency remain keys to success  for Nepal  in the next two matches against Namibia and Scotland.


 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nepal must have killer instinct to beat India

-
Image
The men’s national cricket team of Nepal  have made headlines in the ongoing Asian Games cricket in China,following two successive  runaway victories against minnows Mongolia and Maldives.   In the opener, they  wreaked havoc on  a relatively inexperienced and weak Mongolia who played their first T20 international match,after gaining ICC membership in 2021. The debut match turned out to be a nightmare for the Mongolian outfit as they got absolutely walloped by the vastly experienced and formidable opposition. On the other hand Nepal took  full advantage of the opponent’s weaknesses and  plundered them to submission in a match that shattered a series of  standing records. The one-sided  victory saw Nepal set the highest ever total (314/3) in the T20 international. In addition,Kushal Malla broke the  existing record  for  the fastest  century . His century came off just 33 balls. Another record breaking performance came from DS Airee who cracked the fastest half century ever off only 9 b
Read more

Nepal needs to put on a fighting performance against against Vietnam

-
Image
    Football,the most watched and followed sport in the Asian Games, got underway  in Hangzhou,China Tuesday. A total of twenty one teams  are in the men’s competition. Initially the draw was made with 23 teams but the withdrawal of Syria and Afghanistan reduced the event to 21.  The championship features under-23 national teams.Asian  powerhouses in the likes of South Korea, Japan,Iran,Saudi Arabia and Qatar  are expected to dominate the tournament. Definitely we cannot rule out surprises and upsets. Host and two times champions China, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Indonesia are teams to watch. With five titles  defending champions South Korea has been the most  dominant side.Once again they are  one of the strong contenders. Iran has the second best record finishing  on top on three occasions. Undoubtedly  they are  front runners alongside Japan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar for the ultimate honor. After two successive Asian Games appearances in the 2014 in South Korea  and  2018 in Indonesia, N
Read more

Nepal needs optimum effort against Yemen

-
Image
The men’s national football team of Nepal  got  off to a losing start in the second round of the 2026 World Cup and 2027 AFC Asia Cup qualifiers in Doha, United Emirates Thursday. They went down to  heavy favorites the United Arab Emirates 0-4 as predicted.In fact,the final outcome did not come as a surprise. The hosts dictated play for the most part, but they were far from best.They relied on pace,power, physicality,short and long passes, coupled with individual flair,tactical prowess and technical superiority.   They put the game beyond the  reach of the opposition in the first half by scoring four  unanswered goals and ensuring themselves an easy victory in front of an expectant home crowd. Prior to the match the main point of interest was Team Nepal’s overall performance.The  one question on  everyone’s mind was; how competitive could they be?  The Nepali outfit did go down by a wide margin, but, by and large,they put in a spirited  performance especially in the second half. They 
Read more