Fuvahmulah: Nepal will be looking for a win when they take on Indian side Karnataka Institute of Cricket (KIOC) in their second match of the SAARC Under-25 Twenty20 Cricket Cup here at the Ahmed Ali Didi grounds on Thursday.
Nepal suffered a 76-run loss against Sri Lanka but are hoping to bounce back against the Indian team that went down to Pakistan by 149 runs today. Batting first, Pakistan scored a massive 274-9 in 20 overs before the KIOC innings folded at 125 in 18.3 overs.
Nepal’s coach Pubudu Dassanayake said the team would go according to the plans and with confidence. “We have plans and we will stick to them tomorrow,” said the coach. “We will try to correct our mistakes from Tuesday’s match and perform to our potential,” Dassanayake added.
Dassanayake said they were hoping to return home with at least a win. “We hope to get at least one win and I believe tomorrow will be the day,” he said.
Dassanayake was more concerned about the bowling department. “We have to improve our bowling tomorrow,” he said. Opening bowler Amrit Bhattarai along with skipper Paras Khadka and part-time bowler Sharad Vesawkar conceded more than 12 runs an over, while left-arm spinner Rahul BK was hit for 21 in one over.
Against Sri Lanka the Nepali batsmen showed they can play big shot despite falling way short of the a mammoth 241-run target. Sharad batted with ease, while Prithu Baskota, Binod Bhandari and Pradeep Airee all played confidently.
Dassanayake indicated that he might opt for the same combination that played against Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, Paras was confident of putting up a good show. “Now we have acclimatised with the conditions and after a good learning experience from Sri Lanka match, we are ready,” he said. He also said the bowlers will be under additional pressure owing to the short boundary.
