Captain Khadka inspires Nepal to victory
Host Nepal secured victory today over Jersey on the first day of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 5 (WCL Div. 5) with a six-wicket win.
Man of the match and captain of Nepal Paras Khadka made an impressive 69 runs off 66 balls as it reached its target with 12 overs to spare after Jersey had earlier been bowled out for 174.
"It's obviously nice to lead from the front with the side and secure our first victory of the tournament. However we've many more games to come and we need to improve on our batting and bowling. I feel we lacked intensity in some places and I'll be looking for the guys to take it up a notch tomorrow against Singapore," said Khadka.
Having won the toss and electing to bat first at the Army Ground, Jersey opening batsman Dean Morrison led from the front with a hard-fought 62 runs off 112 balls but failed to find support in the Jersey batting line up, apart from Samuel de la Haye who managed a 38-run innings but the side crumbled after Morrison's departure.
Jersey captain Ryan Driver said: "I'm obviously disappointed today and would have liked to have made it to the full 50 overs. All credit to Nepal and especially their captain for a good all-round performance. We need to pick ourselves up and take tomorrow as a new game and focus on winning against Fiji."
Meanwhile, Division 6 winners and runners-up, Singapore and Bahrain, went head-to-head at the Tribhuvan University Ground in front of a lively crowd and Singapore came out victorious with a 126-run win in a match that was broadcast live on Nepal national television.
Having won the toss, Singapore elected to bat and posted a decent target of 224-8 in 50 overs. Wicketkeeper and opening batsman Chetan Suryawanshi made an impressive 54 in an innings that included five fours and one six.
Singapore captain Munish Arora and his vice-captain Buddika Mendis also contributed with the bat making 33 and 39 respectively.
Bahrain's Adil Hanif was the pick of the side's bowlers finishing with match figures of 3-40. However his team's batting line-up failed to fire and crumbled against strong bowling from Singapore.
Yaser Sadeq's men were all out for 98 in 33.3 overs with the highest scoring batsman being Hanif with 26 runs. Anish Param (3-7) and Jackie Manoj-Kumar (3-15) were by far the pick of the Singapore bowlers.
Singapore coach Marvan Atapattu said: "Winning your initial games is so important so I was very happy that we won today on a wicket that had turn even though it was on the slow side. To win by 126 runs is a remarkable achievement."
"Playing in front of live television cameras is one thing but playing in front of large crowds is a another thing here as you don't get too many people watching cricket back home in Singapore. I hope that they will continue to enjoy it, especially when we play Nepal.
"It is only one win so far, but it is a good start. The wickets will be on the slow side so we need to be aware of that. We have the resources to do well - it is about executing our plans tomorrow all over again."
Moving on to the final match of the opening day, the USA took on Fiji in what proved to be the highest scoring match of the day.
Having lost the toss and been put into bat first at the Engineering Ground, the USA made a huge total of 353-8 in a match that saw three half-centuries from the Americans.
Captain Steve Massiah lead by an example with a swashbuckling 74 runs in an innings that included nine fours and one six. He was ably assisted by strong performances from Rashard Marshall (63), Lennox Cush (50) and Orlando Baker (46).
Fiji struggled to chase such a huge target and collapsed to 68 all out in 28.2 overs. Josefa Dabea, who made 13, was the only batsman to get into double figures, while Kevin Darlington, with 3 for 9 in six overs, and Imran Awan, who took 3 for 16, were USA's best bowlers.
"It was a positive start - just the start we were looking for," said Massiah.
"I felt very good - it is always good to get some runs and hopefully I can continue this form. Our aim was to get above 300 and we wanted to get four or five partnerships of 50 or more. It was a terrific batting performance.
"The bowling was disciplined and very professional. We aimed to create pressure and we did that very well."
In Sunday's matches, Nepal play Singapore, USA face Bahrain and Jersey take on Fiji.