Close victory to Kaski

Post Report

KATHMANDU, April 10 - In the 17th Jay Trophy National Cricket Tournament held at St Xaviers’ ground today Basanta Sharma of Sunsari bowled a superb spell to win a 15 run victory over Kaski.

Kaski, chasing a target of 168 runs were dismissed for 152 in 42nd overs despite a strong batting by Parmesh Gurung with his individual contribution of 93 runs which he scored with the help of 11 boundaries facing 113 balls. Beside Ramesh Yadav who scored 11 runs, none other batsmen could reach the double figure under the fiery attack of Sunsari bowlers.

Basanta claimed four wickets in his quota of 10 overs giving away just 22 runs in his match-winning spell. Amir Akthar also took three wickets in his nine overs to steer his team to a close victory.

Sunsari, batting first after winning the toss scored 167 runs in the 42.5 overs losing all wickets. Although, Sunsari had a bad start after their opener Shyam Chand left the crease for a duck was saved by the contribution of their middle order and tail enders.

Manjeet Shrestha who came to the crease after the fall of Sunsari opening wicket scored quick 33 runs with the help of seven boundaries facing 38 balls. Sudhakar Ghale, the number six batsmen also chipped in 21 runs facing 37 balls with the help of three boundaries. Basanta Sharma and Bhawesh Thapa, number seven and eight batsmen contributed 15 and 13 runs respectively to save the day for his team.

On the bowling side, Parmesh Gurung was the pick of bowlers from his side to claim three wickets in his 10 overs conceding just 29 runs. Deven Praju, Sanam Tamrakar and Shyam Chand also took two wickets each to contain their opponents to 167 runs.

Parmesh was declared man of the match for his score of 93 runs and taking three wickets.

Tomorrow’s match will be played between Kaski and Kapilbastu teams.

Just for a sake of participation ?

By Rajeeb Man Tamrakar

KATHMANDU, April 10 - Finally the row over the selection of Nepal’s football team has come to an end with the intervention of the Nepal Sports Council to finalize the 23-member squad to represent the country in the World Cup qualifying Group-6 matches in Iraq.

But forfeiting the opportunity to host the game at home is a painful memory not only to the players but also to all Nepali football fans of the dispute which has done little to bring in the notion of fair play. The loss is that, many feel, our team could have given a tough fight to the football giants like Iraq and Kazakisthan with home crowd support.

Another question troubling the conscience of every football fan is that, is our participation just for the sake of experience or truly an effort to gain entry into the finals of the sporting extravaganza? So far our authorities have been true to the motto of ‘participation’ only.

The almost yearlong tug of war for the control over ANFA between the two concerned authorities has put a lot of mental pressure on the participating players. So, are they ready to play? Are we sending a team, which could atleast, be a face-saving measure for the country in the international arena? Or are we going to be subjected to a repeat dose of humiliation, which our officials have become used to?

Even the coaches and the players themselves feel and agree that the Nepali team is not capable of performing to general expectations during the qualifying matches. However, they are happy to participate in the tournament and save the country from a gross humiliation in international football. Tashi Ghale says, "We could have been suspended from playing international matches, if we
had not participated in the qualifying matches. At least we are spared of losing creditability internationally."

"Our boys hardly got any chance to practice and prepare themselves for the coming games against tough opponents," says Maheshwor Mulmi, the chief coach of the national team. He adds, "Basically, our strategy will be defensive with Iraq and Kazakisthan." He seemed to be counting on the strong defense of experienced players like Dev Narayan Chaudhary and the midfielders, Bal Gopal Maharjan and Sukra Tamang. "We will be playing a 1-5-4 formation in the first half of the game with Iraq and then we might switch over and play a 4-4-2 system during the second half. Our main target will be to lose the match with minimum goals," he adds with some hint of reality.

Mulmi says, basically, the team is more or less the same that was sent to the South Asian Federation (SAF) games last year. The only problem is that the players could be out of form due to the lack of proper and continues training. "Our defense is good enough although we have the disadvantage of height compared to the opponents in aerial plays," adds Mulmi.

Upendra Man Singh, the team captain says, "It is good that the controversy over ANFA has came to a temporary halt but the concerned parties should end this matter once for all."

Whetever the controversy so far, it would be best for both the warring parties as well as the future of football in Nepal, to bring to an end the unwarranted controversy.