NATIONAL7Spotlight Weekly)]

Keeping The Ball Rolling

Despite initial hiccups, Nepal's cricket team display a fairly good game in Toronto

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

By winning the first game they played against Gibraltar, Nepal's cricket team proved they have overcome the series of hiccups that nearly barred them from playing in the Second International Cricket Council (ICC) Trophy in Toronto, Canada.

The Nepali cricket team defeated Gibraltar by 3 wickets on July 1 after successfully chasing relatively low target of 133 runs in 39 overs losing just 7 wickets.

But the team was subsequently defeated by Namibia on July 2. In their second match of the league play-offs, the Nepalese squad could not display their batting strength. The team could only score 131 runs losing 7 wickets. Namibia easily chased the score losing only 2 wickets.

By winning one and losing another, the Nepalese team displayed a fairly good game considering the pre-match hassles they had to undergo.

The Nepali cricket team had suffered a number of jolts before they finally left for Toronto. Right in the training season, the unfortunate royal tragedy took place. Then the Canadian high commission in New Delhi denied visa to four players of the original 11 and they had to be replaced by alternative players.

According to Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), the Nepali team, originally scheduled to leave for Toronto on June 23, could do so only on June 25 owing to the visa delay. "The psychology of the players were disturbed because of the visa problem," said one CAN official.

Thankfully, the ICC rescheduled Nepal's matches upon request to give a breathing time for the Nepalese squad who could reach there only in the eleventh hour.

Given the odds stacked against them, the team did display a remarkable ability by winning their first match against Gibraltar by 3 wickets on July 1. As four of the players were chosen from the replacement set, many thought Nepal would not be able to play to its full potential. "Definitely, the absence of the original 11 could be a setback," Tarini Bikram Shah, vice-president of CAN had told SPOTLIGHT.

But the initial win has come a pleasant news to all. "That will be a great morale booster to our players," said a CAN member. But then Nepali team will have to play better than the one they played against Gibraltar as other teams are stronger.

During the first game, Nepali bowlers displayed good game while the batsmen failed to make a mark. During its first two matches, the Nepalese batsmen could not make any mark. None of the batsmen could score half century.

Nepal will have to play matches against Namibia, West Africa and Germany to qualify for the second round. The top three teams of the tournament will get the opportunity to play in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.