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| Kathmandu, Sunday February 23, 2003 Falgun 11, 2059. |
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Biratnagar look to extend
dominance
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Feb 22 : Biratnagar skipper Dipendra
Choudhary will try his best to defend the league crown when they face a promising and new
looking Kathmandu in the final at the Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground on Sunday.
In contrast, it will be a Herculean task for the
Kathmandu side, who are making the final of the Birendra Memorial National Cricket
Championship for the first time, to defeat a team which boast more than seven national
players.
Rain would be a crucial factor for the
Kathmanduites as they are trail in run rate and points to Biratnagar, who won their last
league title without going into the field when rain halted all the action of the final
against Bhairahawa. They will win the trophy if there will be rain on Sunday. Like the
previous episode, rain poured cold water on the aspirations of a couple of young
cricketers, who went home without showing their potentials as most of the teams had to
share points due to persistent rain this week.
But in normal condition, the superior Biratnagar
have to toil hard to defend their crown against a side which is an amalgam of youth and
experienced players. Kathmandu’s skipper Paresh Lohani and vice-captain Bardan
Chalise, with whom the Balbro Company of India made an agreement for the sponsorship this
week, are in tremendous form. And the good news for the side is the inclusion of batting
talent Sarad Veswakar who missed the league matches to play for the Asian U-15 dream team
in Sri Lanka.
"Veswakar is a talented cricketer and his
presence in the playing set will provide a depth in both bowling and batting,"
Kathmandu skipper Paresh Lohani said to The Kathmandu Post. "Biratnagar is a
high-profile team but we too are a very good side and chances are fifty-fifty for
both," added Lohani who think something around 250 runs is must to beat Biratnagar.
Left-arm spinner Raju Basnet, who failed to
perform well in the previous championship, has been performing consistently this year and
Kalam Ali’s fast bowling too can become headache for the Easterners. Batting wise,
Kathmandu’s Sandeep Shrestha and Munik Shrestha are in superb touch with the bat. The
duo along with Lohani and Chalise will hold the key for Kathmandu’s challenge against
the team which have not lost any match in the entire championship which started from 2002.
To do this, they have to defy ace allrounder
Mehaboob Alam who has been doing exceptionally well with both bat and ball. Alam had
already taken seven wickets so far in the tournament. Spin bowling is the main weapon of
Biratnagar side as they are playing with four specialist spinners in the likes of Lakpa
Lama, Ayus Shrestha, Rajkumar Pradhan and Paras Luniya. All the spinners are doing good
job for Biratnagar. Struggling Lama with the ball and Yaswant Subedi with the bat warned
their opponents and selectors contributing significantly in a league match against
Birgunj, which is a good sign for Dipendra Chaudhary who also regain his form making a
half-century against Nepalgunj. The only thing Chaudhary will miss is the experience of
Kiran Agrawal, who took retirement from competitive cricket to pay attention entirely
towards business. Flu forced Agrawal to stay at the bench in the entire league matches.
Apart from this, Manoj Katuwal’s experience behind the wicket means Kathmandu batsmen
can never be casual while batting.
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