Nepal rounded off its fine run at the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 4 with yet another convincing display to end the event as champion.
In the final on Monday at Kinrara Oval, Nepal beat USA by eight wickets to end the tournament on an unbeaten note.
USA won the toss and batted first at Kinrara and on another fine track. But it was bowled out for a mere 145 in 48.1 overs. Dangerman Steven Taylor was dismissed by off-spinner Sanjam Regmi early on, but Aditya Mishra (28), Sushil Nadkarni (39) and Orlando Baker (39) held the USA innings together.
Nepal fielded well and took wickets at regular intervals. Basanta Regmi’s left-arm spin was particularly effective and he notched up a haul of five for 20 to easily be the tournament’s highest wicket-taker with 21 for a cost of just 140 runs.
Nepal lost yesterday’s centurion Anil Mandal early, but then the other centurion of the competition, Subash Khakurel and one-drop Gyanendra Malla combined well.
Malla’s 50 came off 54 balls (6×4, 1×6) before he eventually got out for 66 with the score on 102 in the 20th over.
Thereafter Nepal captain Paras Khadka walked in and steered the side home hitting the winning boundary in front of 250 jubilant Nepal fans.
Nepal’s coach Pubudu Dassanayake was full of praise for his team: “The team did just what was needed here and deserved to win. When I came to Nepal the goal was always to get this team up to a chance of qualifying for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and this Division 4 win now means we’re one step closer. There’s a lot more hard work to do but I’m delighted with the progress so far.”
