Pratap Dulal/October 9:
Nepal will meet Malaysia in the vital semi-final match of ACC Trophy Elite 2012 at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. Nepal topped the group B via head to head record count. Earlier, they defeated UAE in league round match on October 3. Meanwhile, Malaysia is runner up from Group A. The two sides played on various occasions but Nepal have always managed to dominate them in 50 overs cricket.
Gorkhali team will set off into the bout head held far above the land after defeating UAE, who is dominating force at 50 overs cricket among non-test playing Asian nations. On the cruel heat of United Arab Emirates, Nepal is about to play the side, which have few good players who can be headache for Nepal thus they need to be aware of that.
Nepal have psychological edge against Malaysia tomorrow. They came here from winning ICC World Cricket Division IV title along with the 10 wickets win over Malaysia. Previously, Nepal managed to pinch the Malaysian by 8 runs in the semi final of last edition of the same event. Malaysia is yet to defeat Nepal in 50 overs senior level cricket.
Nepali players displayed prolific skills with both bat and ball. Top and Middle order batsmen are contributing from their side. While, Low-order not clicked fully but Pradeep Airee, Prithu Baskota along with Basanta Regmi are contributing decently. Furthermore, bowlers doing exceptionally well, as spinners proved almost unplayable on the majority of the matches.
The Current form of Sharad Vesawkar is bothering the coach and the captain but he is expected to come back strongly in big bout. Likewise, injury of the fast bowlers also is a matter of concern. Amrit Bhattarai came back strongly at the match against Hong Kong and hopeful for semi-final as well. Binod Das not able to recover yet and he may not recuperate for rest of tournament from knee injury.
This is a big match for Nepal and surely they don’t want to repeat their past mistake. Nepal is aiming to lift successive trophy in foreign soil and this will be biggest ever crown they prevail. With the current form of team, they are able to complete the mission.
