Nepal hoping to turn the tide against US and Scotland

 

The men’s national cricket team of Nepal lived up to expectations in the recently concluded   ICC  Men’s World  Cup League 2 tri-series against Oman and the United Arab Emirates in Kirtipur.

The hosts went into the series desperately needing maximum points from four matches to  keep their qualifying hopes to the final alive by making a dramatic  climb up the table standings. 

At the end of the day, they narrowly missed their  targeted goal of winning all four matches.Nonetheless, they performed well and  ended up winning 3  and losing one.

By and large,Team Nepal looked a  very determined, confident, positive and consistent outfit throughout the series much to the delight of home supporters.

They were  fully aware of the  importance of the  series and the fact  that they could not afford to lose further grounds in order to keep themselves in the  fray.

The only option they had was to  come up with a  consistent winning performance to deliver the results.They had to take their game to a new level and perform to their potential.

They had to overcome the challenges of dealing with the seasoned oppositions who were on par with  them in terms  of  talent ,strengths and winning chances.

Also they were under pressure to perform to expectations in front of home supporters. 

Having to play at home ground,they clearly enjoyed an advantage over the opponents.

However, the  key to their success was fully benefiting the advantage and  translating it into success.

More importantly, the team had  to put together  a solid  collective effort,coupled with individual brilliance on  all fronts of the game.

Given the competitiveness of the game, there was virtually no room for mediocrity and errors. Players  had to be in a positive frame of mind, laser focused, committed, disciplined, put in every bit of effort and peak their  performance to put themselves in the driver’s seat.

Skipper  Rohit Paudel led a youthful, talented  side with plenty of international experiences. 

Speaking of players, debutant batter Arjun Kamal was the sole new face in the team and  Binod Bhandari made a comeback after a gap of several years.

Team Nepal had to get off to a winning start to gather early momentum which they did against bottom of the table standings UAE.

In both matches against their  arch rivals they were impressive  winners. They won the first and second  games by 37 runs and 6 runs respectively.  

Against  third place Oman they split the two matches winning one by 81 runs  and losing the other by 102 runs

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Under the limelight was all rounder Dipendra Singh Airee who had an outstanding series especially with the bat.

 

His brilliant batting  contributed significantly to the team’s success against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in both matches.

He hit 75  runs in the first match, followed by a scintillating century. He  accumulated 268 runs and was the team’s highest run getter . Besides, he claimed 4 wickets as well.

The other  batter who narrowly missed a century was  Aasif Sheikh. He scored 94 runs against Oman which was won by Nepal.

The highly experienced bowler duo  leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane and  pacer Sompal Kami topped the bowling chart by taking 8 wickets each.

Likewise, experienced Karan KC and rising all rounder Gulshan Jha  ended with a five wicket haul each. 

By and large,it was an encouraging performance.However, there is still room for improvement  in every department of the game.

In spite of  three wins,batting continues to be the team’s  weakest link and concern. The top order batters  were far from impressive, inconsistent and faltered time  and time again ,throwing away their wickets by playing poor shots. 

There is a need for batters to  learn from mistakes ,improve batting techniques, maintain  focus and mental discipline  and sharpen their technical skills,coupled with good shot  selection.

The bowlers have to go all out to make their bowling  attack  more  consistent, effective, lethal and productive by improving their line, length, pace and accuracy. 

The fielding  can be  improved to save  singles, check flow of runs by  the right placement of fielding positions and apply pressure on batters.

The real big test for Team Nepal  is the   second successive World Cup League 2   tri-series starting in Kirtipur on May 11. They take on  top of the group  United States of America and  second place Scotland . 

Team Nepal must  step up further and perform at their best to make a lasting impact.

They have the momentum and must carry it into the series to  turn the tables against the formidable  opponents. This is a big opportunity for them to prove themselves and overcome the odds stacked against them. 

They can do it if  they are able to  make the most out of the chance. They  start the series  against Scotland on May 11. They  have  to  rise to the occasion, take their game to a whole  new level, up the ante and go all out to  ensure themselves a winning start .