Vishvakarma bags 7-15 as Nepal beats USA in Pepsi ICC WCL Div.5 final

Host Nepal defeated the United States of America (USA) by five wickets in the final of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 5 in front of a full house at Tribhuvan University ground in Kathmandu on Saturday.

Nepal, set a target of 173 runs, achieved victory with five wickets and 20 balls to spare. By virtue of reaching the final, both Nepal and the USA joined Argentina, Tanzania, the Cayman Islands and host Italy in the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 4 to be staged from 14 to 21 August.

Elsewhere, Bahrain defeated Singapore by three wickets at the Army Ground in the third,fourth position play,off while Jersey beat Fiji by five wickets to take fifth place. Singapore and Bahrain stayed in Division 5 but Jersey and Fiji were relegated to Division 6.

After the group stage, the USA had finished on top of the table in the six,team tournament. However, on Saturday it faced a rejuvenated Nepal which put up a solid performance to the delight of its supporters which had come in great numbers to support their side.

The USA, batting first, made an excellent start to its innings with Steve Massiah (55) and Orlando Baker (49) putting on 81 runs for the second wicket to take the score to 141,2.

At that stage, Nepal's left,arm spinner Rahul Vishvakarma produced an extraordinary spell of bowling and returned figures of 7,15 as the USA was sent crashing out for 172 after losing its last eight wickets for 31 runs.

In reply, Mahesh Chhetri (28) and Anil Mandal (37) provided Nepal an excellent opening stand of 85 runs against an erratic USA attack which conceded 20 wides during the course of the innings.

Although the USA managed to fight back and claimed five wickets in the process, Nepal never looked like losing the game and finally closed the match out with 3.2 overs to spare.

A delighted Nepal captain Paras Khadka said: "It's a great thing for us to have won today as it is our first win as a senior side in a long time. I think the team worked really hard today and the USA just couldn't handle Rahul's aggressive and crafty bowling.

"It's wonderful to take home the trophy but after some celebration the focus has to turn to this August in Italy where I hope we can be equally successful."

Massiah, the USA captain, reflecting on the final, said: "All credit to Nepal today and especially to Rahul whose bowling was the key to Nepal's success. I'm obviously disappointed at not taking home the trophy but I am more than happy that we've qualified for Division 4.

"Now it's all about us continuing our way back up the rankings and to keep performing as well as we can."

Vishvakaram, who has also represented Nepal at the U19 levels, said: "It's always satisfying to contribute in team's cause and I'm extremely happy to help my side win this tournament. I think the way the boys played today reflects that the future of cricket of cricket in Nepal is bright," he said.

ICC Global Development Manager, Matthew Kennedy, was pleased with the performance of the Associate and Affiliate sides in this tournament. "The Pepsi ICC World Cricket League and the system of promotion and relegation we have in place is really helping the development of many countries and enabling them to find their relevant current 'fit' amongst their peers.

"It's great to see the global rankings have a shake,up after this tournament and the various Members being able to progress up the table. Nepal won five out of its six matches and as such, has moved up to 29th position in the world while fellow Division 4 qualifier USA has jumped two places to 30th position" said Mr Kennedy.

Binaya Raj Pandey, president of Cricket Association of Nepal, said: "It has been a great pleasure to host the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League here in Nepal. To have hosted all the teams and see Nepal promoted to Division 4 has been a fantastic end to this week."

Meanwhile, Bahrain secured third place after an exciting three,wicket win over Singapore.

Singapore struggled with the bat and was bowled out for 126 runs with Munish Arora top,scoring with 29. Bahrain's spinners took full advantage of a turning wicket, with Tahir Dar finishing as the pick of bowlers with excellent figures of 4,29.

In reply, Bahrain got off to a terrible start when it was reduced to 16,3 before Imran Sajjad (34) and Ashraf Yaqoob (32) led the recovery.

A flurry of wickets gave Singapore hope when Bahrain slipped to at 105,7, before Fahar Sadeq (23 not out) and Tahir Dar (13 not out) took their side to victory with 89 balls remaining.

To add to Bahrain's victory today, Tahir Dar was adjudged the Player of Tournament by the ICC umpires officiating at the tournament after the 38,year,old took 11 wickets at an average of 16.9 and also made 146 runs at an average of 36.5.

Referring to his achievement Dar said: "It would have been nice to be promoted but to be recognised as the Player,of,the,Tournament is something I'm proud of and shows that I am doing something right within the team and working my hardest."

Jersey ended a disappointing week on a high after finishing fifth with a five,wicket win over Fiji.

Batting first, Fiji made 258,7, its highest total in the competition, with Iniasi Cakacaka (78) and Jo Rika (75) featuring in an excellent 161,run stand for the second wicket.

Jersey's Ryan Driver was once again in fine form with the ball taking 4,58 to finish the event with 11 wickets from six matches.

In reply, Driver followed up his fine bowling performance with a superlative 78 from 104 balls as Jersey romped to victory with five balls to spare. Driver received good support from Peter Gough who contributed 58 not out from 57 balls.