Yes, you heard it right. Nepal not only beat the Rain god’s to triumph over host’s Namibia, but they beat themselves too by not getting bowled out in what was made a hash of a chase for a lowly 139 runs.
Yes, again, only 139 runs to chase to win. This, after their bowlers did all the hard work by getting Namibia dismissed for 138 in 34.2 overs. To not bat 50 overs is a crime so what Namibia did was court disaster.
Nepal’s IPL signing, Sandeep the Daredevil, showed exactly the kind of spark that Delhi will be looking for come April 2018, as he picked up 4/18 in a 8.2 overs spell, which spellbound the Namibian batsmen. Sompal Kami (3/35) did all the early damage before the spinners, Basant Regmi (1/26) and Sandeep started the stranglehold.
Then came the pain. The pain of watching Nepal batting line-up go through another of their famous collapses and inability to rotate strike, as Malla (15 off 45), Khadka (19 off 35), Vesawkar (29 off 67) & debutante, Rohit Paudel (17 off 60) showed how to make a complete mess of a run-chase as Namibia bowlers kept coming hard at them to reduce them to 104/8 in the 42nd over, and when Nepal were at 111/8 and the rain intervened, they were behind by 12 runs as per Duckworth-Lewis method.
Even the rain god’s had to bow down to Nepali people’s prayers as match restarted amidst another heartbreak when Sompal got dismissed to leave them at 121/9 in the 47th over.
It took veteran Basant Regmi’s crucial knock of run-a-ball 24 runs and Sandeep’s resistance of a solitary run off & deliveries to take Nepal to a nerve-wrecking victory in the opening group match in ICC WCL Division 2.
Namibia, obviously gutted with their showing, need to bounce back strongly in short time as all the 6 teams battle again tomorrow in the 2nd round of group matches.
Bernard Scholtz (4/11) and Craig Williams (3/32) were the bright spots on a gloomy day for Namibian cricket fans.
