cricket

By a Staff Reporter Kathmandu - Former captain of Nepal’s national cricket team Paras Khadka has been adjudged the Best Player of the Decade during the Pulsar Sports Awards organized by Nepal Sports Journalists Forum on Tuesday. NSJF decided to select the best players in men’s and women’s category as well as the best coach on the basis of the players’ achievement over the last decade as there were not much sporting events last year due to Covid-19. Paras Khadka had led Nepal’s cricket team during a difficult period and achieved the biggest success in history when helped the team qualify for the ICC T20 World Cup in 2014. Nepal had displayed an inspired performance under his leadership in the T20 World Cup as Nepal defeated Hong Kong and Afghanistan but eventually lost to Bang...

By a Staff Reporter Kathmandu - Nepal defeated Papua New Guinea by 7 wickets in their ICC World Cup League-2 Tri-series ODI match on Tuesday riding on half centuries from opener Kushal Bhurtel and top-order batsman Aarif Sheikh. Nepal have wrapped up their UAE visit with this match. Chasing a modest target of 174 runs, Nepal achieved victory in 37 overs losing 3 wickets. Aarif Sheikh topscored 59 runs off 102 balls for Nepal. His innings included four boundaries. It was the first half century of Sheikh in his ODI career. Sheikh and Rohit Kumar Poudel played a 77-run partnership for the fourth wicket to ensure Nepal’s victory. Opener Kushal Bhurtel was stumped out for 50 runs off 64 balls. It was his second half century in ODI matches. Likewise, another opener Aasif Sheikh was...

By a Staff Reporter Kathmandu - Nepal’s national cricket team suffered their worst defeat in history during Monday’s match of the ICC World Cup League-2 ODI Tri-series against hosts UAE. Nepal lost the match by 99 runs for their second consecutive defeat in the league. Chasing a target of 203 runs for victory, the visitors were bundled out for 103 runs in 35.1 overs. This is Nepal’s the lowest score in ODI history. Prior to this, the lowest runs scored by Nepal in ODI was 113 runs against the UAE in 2019. Nepal’s Gyanendra Malla topscored 30 runs off 65 balls for Nepal. Sompal Kami was run out for 15 runs off 35 balls. UAE’s fast bowler Junaid Siddiqui took four wickets in 8 overs including two maidens, giving away 23 runs. Kashif Daud and Ahmad Raja took two wickets each....

By a Staff Reporter Kathmandu - Karnali Province got off to a winning start to the U-19 National Women’s Cricket Championship underway in Dhangadhi. Karnali defeated Sudur Paschim Province by 34 runs in their opening match on Sunday. Opting to bat first at Dhangadhi’s Fapla Cricket Ground on Sunday, Karnali Province scored 93 runs in the allotted 20 overs losing 5 wickets. Opener Kiran Kumari Kunwar topscored 25 runs off 50 balls for Karnali. Trishna Bishwakarma contributed 12 runs for the team. Likewise, Shova Shahi and Anjali Thapa were run out for 9 and  6 runs respectively. Sabitra Dhami of Sudur Paschim took 3 wickets in her four-over spell giving away 15 runs. Chasing a target of 94 runs for victory, the host team were all out in  13.4  overs wit...

By a Staff Reporter Kathmandu - Despite exceptional bowling, Nepal suffered a humiliating 48-run defeat against the hosts UAE in their ICC World Cup League-2 match on Friday as the visitors faltered with the batting department. Nepal failed to achieve a modest target of 169 runs as the team was sent packing by the UAE with 120 runs on board in the 25.1 overs. Rohit Kumar Poudel topscored 46 runs off 60 balls for Nepal. His innings included four boundaries. This is the second consecutive match in which Poudel missed the half-century mark by just four runs. None of the other batsmen put up a good performance. Nepal lost its opener Kushal Bhurtel in the fifth over as he was bowled out by UAE’s fast bowler Junaid Siddiqui for just 11 runs. Aasif Sheikh was also sent to the pavili...

By a Staff Reporter Kathmandu - Half centuries from Rohit Kumar Poudel and Aarif Sheikh helped Nepal defeat Papua New Guinea (PNG) during their ICC World Cup League-2 Tri-series ODI match on Wednesday. Nepal beat PNG by two wickets to grab two crucial points. Nepal, chasing a modest target of 205 runs for victory, reached the target in 49.2 overs losing 8 wickets. Unbeaten Rohit Kumar Poudel contributed the maximum 54 runs off 82 balls including four boundaries for Nepal. Aarif Sheikh scored 53 runs off 84 balls. It was his first ODI half century while it was the fourth of Poudel. Nepal were in need of 5 runs from the last six balls. In the first ball of the last over, Nepal were granted four runs for leg bye. In the next ball, Karan KC scored a six to ensure Nepal’s victory....

By a Staff Reporter Kathmandu - Nepal’s national cricket team captain Sandeep Lamichhane has a rare opportunity to create a new world record during the ICC World Cup League -2 visit to the UAE. In his debut as ODI skipper, Lamichhane needs to take nine wickets in the first two matches during the UAE tour to set a new world record for the fastest 50-wicket haul in ODI history. Lamichhane, who made his debut in ODI against the Netherlands in 2018, has taken 41 wickets in 16 matches. If he is able to take nine more wickets in another 2 matches, Lamichhane will achieve a milestone of 50 wickets in 18 games. At present, Sri Lanka’s spinner Ajantha Mendis holds record of the fastest 50-wicket haul in ODI history. He achieved the feat in 2009 from 19 matches. Nepal faces Papua...

By a Staff Reporter Kathmandu - Nepali national cricket team’s all-rounder Dipendra Singh Airee failed to win the ICC Player of the Month Award. Airee was nominated for the award last week but it was India’s Shreyas Iyer who bagged the award. Airee along with Iyer and Bitya Arbind of the UAE were nominated for the ICC Player of the Month Award for February. Both Airee and Arbind had performed exceptionally well during the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifiers. Similarly, Iyer had grabbed the attention during India’s series against Sri Lanka and West Indies. Airee had scored 159 runs during the World Cup Qualifiers and also took 3 wickets. Prior to that, he had bagged 4 wickets in a match against Ireland and scored a total of 142 runs during a four-nations series ahead of the qualifier...

By a Staff Reporter Kathmandu - Nepal’s national cricket team registered their third consecutive victory during their Sri Lanka tour on Thursday with an all-round performance by Karan KC. The practice matches in Sri Lanka are part of Nepal’s preparation for the upcoming ICC World Cricket League Division-2. During Thursday’s practice match, Nepal registered a 144-run win over Sri Lanka Police. Chasing a target of 332 runs, Sri Lanka Police were all out in 36.5 overs with 187 runs on board. Sri Lanka Police skipper C Silva topscored 64 runs off 65 balls that included 8 boundaries. Madushanka scored 50 runs off 44 balls while wicketkeeper Bevita was out for 37 runs. None of the other batsmen could perform well in the batting discipline. Karan KC took 3 wickets for Nepal in hi...