Nepal take on PNG today

As a chance to join the elites of the game knocks doors, Nepal are taking on familiar foes Papua New Guinea (PNG) in their opening match of the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers in Kuala Lumpur Nepal take on PNG today

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Published at : October 15, 2015

Updated at : October 15, 2015 08:44

Kathmandu

With Ireland, United States of America and Uganda also vying for the only spot available for the 2016 U-19 World Cup to be held in Bangladesh, Nepal would like to begin their tournament on a positive note.

Only the winners from the tournament qualify for next year’s junior World Cup - a tournament where Nepal have been in six times before they began to loosen up their grip in age group cricket.

All five teams have come into the tournament as runners-up in their respective regional tournaments. Nepal, to their part, had finished runners-up to Afghanistan in the ACC U-19 Premier that was held in Kuwait.

Nepal have beaten PNG on all occasions in their previous three encounters in U-19 but coach Jagat Tamatta knows his team cannot rely on past results and have to make a fresh start.

Nepal have gone into the tournament following a 15-day training camp in India where they played five practice matches and underwent several training sessions. Nepal had own all of their practice matches. Tamatta believes that the practice tour of India will help them in a better showing. “We had a good tour in India and the team is pretty confident to do better in Malaysia,” Tamatta had said before leaving for the tournament.

Nepal were scheduled for a two-hour practice on Wednesday but incessant rain forced them to return after one hour. Nepal’s previous encounter against PNG was during the 2011 ICC U-19 Global Qualifier, a tournament from where Nepal had made it to the 2012 World Cup. They then met the same opponent in the 2012 World Cup in Australia registering a six wicket victory in the playoffs.

They had also defeated PNG by seven wickets in the 2004 World Cup. Tamatta’s major concern would be Nepal’s batting line-up which has not yet yielded big partnerships or innings that could give them confidence to face tough opponents in crunch matches.