Nepal pull off stunning win to shock New Zealand
Nepal pulled off an amazing comeback to win the Plate Championship, beating a stunned New Zealand by one wicket in a thrilling final-over finish
New Zealand 204 (49.2 overs, T.Astle 66); Nepal 205-9 (49.4 overs, B.Regmi 66). Nepal won by one wicket.
Nepal pulled off an amazing comeback to win the Plate Championship, beating a stunned New Zealand by one wicket in a thrilling final-over finish.
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And although both men were dismissed in the frantic final overs, Ratan Rauniyar (26 not out) and last man Raj Shrestha (3 not out) held their nerve, and Rauniyar hit the winning runs with just two balls in hand when he sliced Colin Munro through backward point for four.
It was the cue for wild celebrations as the whole Nepal squad raced onto the field to embrace the last pair and for coach Roy Dias there was the pleasure of success at last after a near miss at the same stage in New Zealand four years earlier.
"This is the most satisfying moment for me," he said afterwards. "In 2002 we got to the same stage but lost in the final to Zimbabwe and now we have just crossed the line.
"I am sure people will be celebrating a lot back home in Nepal especially as we have beaten two Test-playing nations. It is a great achievement."
That view was echoed by captain Kanishka Chaugai, playing in his third and final U/19 Cricket World Cup and now with something to remember the experience by.
"It is a big achievement for me and for all the boys," he said.
"This is the last U/19 tournament not just for me but for most of the boys and so this is just great."
It really was one of the great comebacks by Nepal. Although they restricted New Zealand to 204 thanks to a fine bowling display they still looked out of the match after Hamish Bennett (3-42) and Colin Munro (2-46) made inroads.
But even at that point Dias said he believed they could win the match.
"I have a lot of faith in these players as I have been with most of them for four or five years," he said.
"I knew we had batting depth and all we needed was a partnership and the one we got (between Chaudhary and Regmi) was the turning point.
"We had a few guys left who could bat and even with nine wickets down I still had that faith."
Regmi played brilliantly to cap off a great personal tournament and his innings, which spanned just 74 balls and included seven fours, followed his earlier effort of 3-41.
He added 70 with Chaudhary and then 44 with Rauniyar and, under intense pressure, the New Zealand out-cricket cracked.
Rauniyar faced just 19 balls for his crucial, late contribution and hit three fours, the last of them the winning blow.
Earlier Nepal's spinners, so often their star performers in this tournament, were once again the players who excelled. In addition to Regmi, Sharad Vesawkar picked up 2-32 and Raj Shrestha took 1-30.
But all the bowlers played their parts in restricting a batting line-up that scored 305 and 295 in their previous matches against Ireland and the United States of America respectively.
Left-arm swing bowler Amrit Bhattarai took two early wickets, including the in-form Andrew de Boorder leg before wicket first ball, to finish with 2-25 and his opening bowling partner Paras Khadka picked up 1-20 in nine economical overs.
The only one of Nepal's bowlers to go wicketless was off-spinner Rauniyar and he was still very tidy, delivering his 10 overs for just 44 runs.
New Zealand were indebted to opener Todd Astle, one of their more consistent performers on the tour, for helping to ensure they reached a competitive total.
Astle made a patient 66 from 86 balls in just over two hours at the crease in an innings that included nine fours.
Three other batsmen, Kieran Noema-Barnett (26), Shaun Fitzgibbon (29) and Roneel Hira (26) were the only other batsmen to reach 20 and Fitzgibbon and Hira's contributions were especially important.
When they joined forces New Zealand were 145-6 and in serious trouble but they added 47 before the innings subsided badly in the final four overs as the last four wickets fell for the addition of just 12 runs.
It could have been even better for Nepal. They missed at least two catches in the deep with one of them Hira, who had just three when Vesawkar missed him on the midwicket boundary.
There was a pleasant breeze blowing across the ground through the morning but it was still hot and humid and those conditions tested the players. Nepal wicketkeeper Mahesh Chhetri had to leave the field suffering from dehydration for six overs and Prem Chowdhury took over the keeping duties.
Chhetri later returned and finished the innings with three stumpings.
New Zealand coach Dipak Patel said afterwards: "We were in a good position but you have got to take your hat off to Nepal for not giving in.
"They were very sensible in their approach to chasing a modest total and we showed inexperience at this level as we did not do the basics."
Captain Marc Ellison added: "We thought we were 20 - 30 runs light of where we should have been but we still thought we could defend it.
"In the end we did not win the crucial moments and it shows you cannot afford to relax, even for one ball."
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