It was a perfect display in all departments –batting, bowling and fielding – that enabled Nepal to script a memorable ending to their fairy tale run in the World Twenty20 yesterday. In their ultimate Group A match, Nepal beat Afghanistan by nine runs to land their second win in the tournament at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.
The “YESSSS” from the few Nepalese journalists present at the Press Box and the celebration from the players on the field was enough to explain what the win meant to the nation.
Nepal stood second in the table with four points via run rate as Bangladesh, who also won two, qualified from the group. The first round of the tournament was a big platform for the ICC Associate members and Nepal has certainly took the best out of their opportunity. They registered their first win in their maiden major tournament against Hong Kong before playing against a Test nation (Bangladesh) for the first time. To finish the tournament on a high Nepal had something else planned too as they ended their six-match losing streak against Afghanistan which also kept a mathematical equation of progressing into the second round. Hong Kong needed to chase down 109 in 13.2 overs, but since that wasn’t achieved Nepal’s chance of going forward also vanished.
Nepal posted a fighting 141 for five after been sent in to bat and followed it by controlled bowling and superb catching to restrict the Afghans to 132 for eight. After two quiet matches with the bat, opener Subash Khakurel slammed 56 and Sharad Vesawkar made 37 in their 76-run fourth wicket partnership after Nepal slipped to 53-3 following a 13-ball 22 from Malla.
Nepal’s captain Paras Khadka, who took two brilliant catches running back, led the lively fielding unit that supported their bowlers to achieve regular breakthroughs.
The top four Afghan batsmen returned for scores less than seven as it was only Shafiqullah (36) and Ashgar Stanikzai (49) who showed some resistance. With 24 needed from six balls, Stanikzai took 16 off the first four, including three fours from the cow corner, before he holed out to long-on to give 18-year-old Sompal Kami his second wicket in the game and seal Nepal’s win.
Meanwhile there was plenty of support for the Nepal team as fans from Europe and UK flew in to watch their nation play in the big stage.
42-year-old Sanjay Chalise who lives London said, “I always dreamt of Nepal playing in the World Cup and when we finally got through the Qualifiers in November. I started making arrangements to come to watch Nepal’s game. I missed the first match as I was stuck at Doha transit.”
Utsav Sigdel, a 24-year-old student from Maryland, USA, was in Chittagong to watch all the matches and said, “Nepal is making history and I wanted to be a part of it.”
Binod Bikram Simkhada and Biswas Hamal also arrived in the port city all the way from England to watch Nepal play. “It is a lifetime opportunity to watch Nepal play in World Cup,” said Simkhada, who spent around £1000 to make the trip.