Kathmandu- Nepal, badly beaten in the ICC T20 World Qualifiers 2015, seeks a fresh start when they play host Scotland in the first game of ICC WCL Championship at Cambusdoon New Ground. The match starts at 3:30 PM NST.
However, it’ll be a real difficult task for demolished Nepal, after a string of losses in the ICC T20 WCQ, to overcome the challenges of finalist, and joint winners of the trophy along with the dutch team.
Nepal’s batting looks as filthy as ever, and they are yet to adapt to the seaming Scottish condition. The addition of Mahesh Chettri, second highest scorer in the domestic competition this year after Anil Mandal, and all-rounder Prithu Baskota might have given Nepal’s batting some strength, but, it’s still to see how the team performs against the host who are in the form of their life.
Mahesh, and Anil are all set to open the innings for Nepal, while Prithu might get his chance to make a comeback almost after 18 months after suffering anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. Siddhant Lohani, who impressed everyone with his aggressive cameo of 27 runs of just 16 balls in qualifiers, might get his debut as well.
Scotland, meanwhile, will look to win tomorrow’s games at their home to secure all important 2 points. The ICC WCLC is the pathway for participating teams to play in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 (ICC CWCQ) and subsequently have a chance to qualify for ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Spirited Scottish team won’t be wanting to loose their chances.
Head to Head
Nepal 0 Scotland 1
Nepal faced Scotland for the first time in the group stage of ICC World Cup Qualifiers 2014 in New Zealand which the Scottish team won by huge 90 runs. Scotland made 249/6 in 50 overs, and restricted Nepal to just 159/10 in 46.1 overs. Freddie Coleman who played a match winning knock of 64 not out won’t be playing tomorrow’s match. Scotland went to win the tournament, and got qualified for 2015 world cup.
Quotes
“After the excitement of the ICC World T20 Qualifier, we’re looking forward to the trip to Ayr and getting our World Cricket League Championship campaign underway against a talented Nepalese side. It will be the last leg of a solid period of representative cricket, and the group are hungry to finish on a high.” Scottish Captain Preston Mommesen.
“Having played in these conditions for the last few weeks, we are slowly getting used to how to go about things. As a group we need to step up and improve the performance, compared to our last outing in Ireland. Scotland is a good team and we will have to play to our potential and come up with good plans and execution to beat them. The players know the need to stand up and be counted.” Nepal’s Skipper Paras Khadka.
Probable XI
Nepal: Paras Khadka (C), Mahesh Chettri (WK), Anil Mandal, Gyanendra Malla, Sharad Veswakar, Prithu Baskota, Basant Regmi, Shakti Gauchan, Siddhant Lohani, Sompal Kami, and Karan KC.
Scotland: Preston Mommsen (captain), Richie Berrington, Kyle Coetzer, Matthew Cross (wk), Safyaan Sharif, Alasdair Evans, Hamish Gardiner, Michael Leask, Gavin Main, George Munsey, and Mark Watt.
