Inclement weather shatters Nepal’s dream of winning Asian Games medal

 

Nasty weather wreaked havoc, shattering the men’s national cricket team of Nepal’s dream of winning a medal in the ongoing Asian Games Twenty20 International cricket tournament in Japan recently.

Their quarter-final match against Sri Lanka was abandoned without  a ball being bowled due to inclement weather. 

As per the  competition rule,the team that is ranked higher in rankings would be the  winner  of the abandoned match. 

Consequently,Sri Lanka  ranked 9th  in ICC Men’s T20I team rankings  was declared winner over 14th ranked Nepal .

The rain played havoc,leading to  cancellations of four quarter-final matches  much to the chagrin, frustration  and disappointment of cricket aficionados.

Prior to  Nepal’s match against Sri Lanka, in the group match they had got off  to the much needed  winning start against 10th ranked Afghanistan.

Bowling first bowlers Lalit Rajbanshi 3 for 13  runs and Kushal Bhurtel 4 for 21 runs bowled well to  restrict the opposition to  a total of 102 runs,paving the way for victory over the opponent.

Despite loss of five wickets,batters Sundeep Jora( 34 runs) and 

Rohit Paudel(33 runs) cashed in on the   good  performance of bowlers.They batted responsibly to ensure  the important win for the team  in 17.2 overs.

However,their second match against Japan ended without a result because of rain.They had batted first,putting themselves in a  commanding  position by amassing 149 runs for  the loss of 4 wickets.

 

Jora with  57  runs  off 32 balls,including five 4s  and three 6s, and Lokesh Bam’s 52  runs off 22 balls consisting of  six 4s  and one six were the top scorers. Both remained undefeated.The duo  had made a comeback to the  team.

When it seemed Team Nepal was headed to a second successive win ,but non -stop downpour  played  spoilsport to deny them victory.Owing to the rain the hosts could not bat and the match was declared cancelled.

They,however,topped the group  and advanced to the quarter-finals to take on Sri Lanka.

Unfortunately, they took an unexpected  hit as their encouraging performance and prospects of winning a medal went up in smoke,following relentless downpours, coupled with a water logged out field. 

Keeping in consideration Nepal’s impressive performance against Afghanistan,they stood a fairly good chance to turn things around in their favour  against Sri Lanka.

The team ‘s heart breaking  ouster from the competition due to unforeseen, unlikely, unusual, questionable and  debatable cause was  a huge reversal and blow  to players and fans alike.

Team Nepal must put this ill fortune  and untoward outcome aside and  prepare themselves seriously for the upcoming tournaments. 

Their next big  challenge is the critically  must win ICC World Cup League 2  tri- series taking place in Oman from October 9th.They face Oman and Canada.

They will go into the  triangular series with  both their  One Day International status  and  World Cup qualification chances  at stake.They have to win every single game. Hence,it is imperative for them to maximize their performance under pressure to come out trumps.