Nepal faced a defeat against Pakistan A in the first match of the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup. Pakistan Shaheens were victorious by four wickets to grab a couple of points.
Nepal were wrapped up for 179 in 37 overs, which obviously is not a decent total but was by far the respectful total with the start they had. Nepal’s top order was rattled by Pakistan’s pacer. They were six down for 43 runs after the end of the powerplay.
Once again, the Nepali batsmen struggled against the pace and aggression of fast bowlers. Shahnawaz Dahani and Muhamma Wasim Jr, who have a good experience playing for the senior side, were the villain for Rohit and Co. Both bowlers can click 145 k/h and hit the deck hard. Dahani picked up a five-wicket haul, whereas Wasim pocketed four wickets.
Basically, Nepali batters couldn’t cope with a bowler with a good pace. Additionally, they struggled to counter the short-pitched deliveries, which caused them further difficulties. The same problem haunted Nepal in the recently concluded Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023.
Dahani dismissed three batters with a short-pitched ball, Aasif was bamboozled by a rib-height ball, Saud was trapped by a bouncer, and Pawan was also dismissed with a chin-height ball. Meanwhile, Wasim trapped Kushal Malla and Gulshan Jha with a bouncer. In conclusion, the Nepali batsmen are displaying a tendency to impulsively go after the short-pitched deliveries, falling into the traps set by the fielding team. It is evident that they need to find an effective strategy to address and overcome this weakness.
Sompal Kami scored a terrific 75 runs to rescue Nepal from 72/8. Pratish GC also added vital 26 runs as Nepal managed to post 179 runs on the board.
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In the second inning, Kushal Bhurtel dropped a catch at slip cordon in the very first ball. Although it was a bit tough chance, and that didn’t cost Nepal a lot, the momentum could’ve been different with the wicket in the first ball. Nepal made several other errors in the field. Moreover, Aasif Sheikh seemed a bit sloppy behind the wicket. He missed one stumping chance and misfielded a few runs.
On the other hand, Rohit Paudel had six bowling options (Three pacers and three spinners), and he used all of them but was a bit clueless with the bowling change and was late bringing in Lalit Rajabsnhi into the attack.
At the end of the Nepal may have learned many things going from the match. They play against India A on the 17th of July in the second match. Few changes may be seen going into that match.
