Sports
Nepal down Kiwis in U-19 opener
Nepal defeated New Zealand by 32 runs in their opening match of the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh on Thursday.Nepal defeated New Zealand by 32 runs in their opening match of the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh on Thursday.
At Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah, Nepal produced a valiant bowling display to upset the test-playing giant in a thriller.
New Zealand was on course in their chase of 239 runs when Glen Phillips (52) and Josh Finnie (37) put on 72 runs for the third wicket. But two quick wickets of these set batsmen in the space of 10 balls proved to be the decisive turning point in the match. Nepal further clamped their grip into the match with quick wickets and despite 50-ball 41 from Dale Phillips and a short 13-ball 24 cameo from Nathan Smith pulled off the victory in the 48th over.
Great scenes of celebration for Nepal here in Dhaka! Raju Rijal the skipper Player of the Match as well #U19CWC pic.twitter.com/jeoaKwFUmC
— ICC (@ICC) January 28, 2016
Following the wickets of top order and middle order batsmen, it became a daunting task for the bottom order batsmen as the asking run rate neared 10 runs per over when the match reached into the final 10 overs. The pressure to score runs and match the run rate took the toll on the Kiwi batsmen as they looked to score big to achieve the run rate only to end up giving up their wickets cheaply.
Dipendra Singh Airee claimed three wickets from his five overs. Prem Tamang had two while Sunil Dhamala and Sandeep Lamichhane took one each. Sushil Kandel was the most economical Nepali bowler with 29 runs conceded from his 10 overs but failed to pick up any wickets.
Earlier, losing the toss and batting first, Nepali opener Sandeep Sunar and other middle-order batsmen laid the foundation for the 238 runs total. Skipper Raju Rijal (48) missed on his half-century by two runs while Aarif Sheikh and opener Sunar both scored 39 runs each. Kushal Bhurtel was not out on an explosive 23-ball 35 while Rajbir Singh contributed 24 runs.