Nepal:
Much was expected, but Nepal didn’t perform upto expectation against Uganda today. The same old problems continued for Nepal in batting. Their batsman were unable to capitalized the power play overs, they threw their wickets at wrong time, and they were too slow at the start. They left a much load for the lower order to lift the game. If Nepal didn’t lift their batting up, they won’t be winning Division three this time because luck wont favour them again like it did in previous Division 3 in Bermuda.
The team combination and team plan seems a bit insecure for Nepal. Nepal started with Subash Khakurel and Naresh Budhayer, both of them were really slow. They played Mehaboob Alam low down the order and there wasn’t much time for the veteran batsman to exploit the bowlers. If Nepal are to improve their batting against Bermuda, they have to capitalize the power play overs and they need an aggressive batsman upfront. Alam will be the perfect choice.
If you have too many spinners in the team then it imbalances the team. Nepal need to cahnge that too. Instead of Sagar Pun, they should try Aarif Sheikh in the team. Looking at his performance at the international and domestic circuit as well, he looks a composed batsman to play 50 over cricket. He can replace Binod Bhandari , (Binod has a lean path in last few matches for Nepal) if the team doesn’t want to keep Sagar in the bench.
However, its clear that if Nepal are to win tomorrow’s game against Bermuda they need to lift their batting up, and that can be done only by changing the game plans and team composition. Bermuda doesn’t look a strong team for this tournament. Therefore it will be a perfect time for Nepal to return back to form and try youngsters as well. Bowling looks all good for Nepal.
Bermuda:
Bermuda too started off with a loss against the USA. They managed the lowest score in the first day in the tournament as they were bundled out for a cheap 107 runs. It will be a herculean effort for a young and inexperienced Bermuda team to beat Nepal tomorrow.
Bermuda are a young team in this tournament with very less experience and a lot of talent. Senior players like captain David Hemp, Rodney Trott, Steven Outerbridge and Chris Douglas made themselves unavailable for this tournament. Though they lack experience they have young players like Tre Manders, Delray Rawlins, Kamau Leverock and Christian Burgess, all of whom are extremely talented and can change the course of match any time. Bermuda has been quoted as one of weak team in Division 3.
They don’t have a strong batting line up, they don’t have experienced players who can take them home form any situation, and they don’t have that exceptional bowling unit as well. Bermuda really have to work hard if they are to win tomorrow.
Nepal vs Bermuda Face To Face In 50 Over Cricket. (Nepal 1 Bermuda 0)
Nepal faced Bermuda for the first time in the ICC WCL Division 3 last year. Nepal won that match comprehensively by 8 wickets in just 11.2 overs after packing them for 106 runs.
Form In ICC WCL
Nepal LLLWL
Bermuda WLLWL
Quotes:
“The only objective is to qualify for WCL Div.2 so we can try to set Bermuda cricket back where it belongs. The team has been preparing the best way we can, training three times per week and trying to improve that extra little bit to get us to Division 2.” Janeiro Tucker, Bremuda Captain.
Nepal – Paras Khadka (captain), Mahaboob Alam, Binod Bhandari, Amrit Bhattarai, Naresh Budhaayer, Shakti Gauchan, Sompal Kami, Bhuban Karki, Subash Khakurel, Gyanendra Malla, Sagar Pun, Basant Regmi, Aarif Sheikh and Sharad Vesawkar.
Bermuda– Janeiro Tucker (captain), Onias Bascome, Kamal Bashir, Christian Burgess, Lionel Cann, Jordan Desilva, Allan Douglas II, Terryn Fray, Malachi Jones, Kamau Leverock, Tre Manders, Delray Rawlins, Dion Stovell and Delano Talbot.
