Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 4 (WCL Div. 4)
Nepal’s Subash Khakurel became the first centurion of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 4 (WCL Div. 4) after the 19-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman smashed his way to 115 runs against USA to help secure another victory for his team.
Subash Khakurel on his way to 115 that help Nepal register their fourth win. Photo: ICC
The young right-hander recently appeared for Nepal in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in Australia and his innings today helped the side to a respectable 258 in the team’s allotted 50 overs. Ultimately the target proved too big for the Americans to chase down, despite a patient 106-ball 84 from Sushil Nadkarni, and the Nepalese won by 32 runs.
Elsewhere, Singapore continued its winning form at the event after it beat Tanzania by eight wickets thanks to an impressive performance by Abhiraj Singh who claimed a five-wicket haul in the win. Denmark claimed another win when Michael Pedersen’s side defeated host Malaysia by three wickets.
Paras Khadka’s Nepal made it four wins out of four at Kinrara Oval after strong batting by the Nepalese top order and some expensive bowling the USA. Subash Khakurel was the star of Nepal’s innings with his 142-ball 115, but he was assisted in his run-making by Gayendra Malla and Khadka to pile on the runs.
USA’s bowling attack leaked runs-a-plenty, with Timroy Allen proving particularly expensive in his 10 overs (2-69) while Ryan Corns managed just one wicket for 44 runs.
In reply, Sushil Nadkarni corner-stoned the USA innings with his 84 runs, helped by captain Steve Massiah (41 runs) but the side fell short of the target after some impressive bowling once again by in-form Basanta Regmi. The medium-pacer snapped up Massiah’s wicket as well as top-order batsman Orlando Baker to finish with figures of 10-1-35-5 and currently is the top bowler in the tournament with 14 wickets.
Man of the Match Khakural said: “I’m glad that my 115 runs were able to help the team beat the USA in this match.
“I’m feeling great after scoring this century because I was a bit worried due to the swing from the pace bowlers at the beginning, but I managed to build my confidence by picking lots of singles and build from there.”
Khadka added: “Playing top teams like the USA will always be a close encounter and credit should go to all the players for the hard fought win. It was a great team performance from Nepal and we deserve the win today.”
Tanzania’s disappointing performances at the Pepsi ICC WCL Div. 4 continued today with another poor batting display, this time against Singapore. The team managed just 94 runs, despite a spirited effort by Abhik Patwa (47 runs) but the rest of the Tanzania top order failed to fire after Dharmichand Mulewa and Abhiraj Singh ripped through the line-up.
The 17-year-old Abhiraj snapped up the wicket of Patwa while also clean bowling the middle order and also claimed a nifty caught-and-bowled to dismiss Tanzania’s captain Hamisi Abdallah. Dharmichand assisted the young spinner with his own off-spin to dismiss four of the African side.
In reply, it took Singapore under 45 minutes to chase down the target after a quick-fire 62 in 38 balls by Chetan Suryanwanshi. The side did lose two wickets but the Chaminda Kumarage’s departure for 1 and Anish Param’s for 28 didn’t hamper Singapore securing its win.
Abhiraj said: “It feels good to contribute and putting in a good effort to win the match. Hopefully this performance will put us through to the final and improve our net run-rate as well.”
In the final game of the day, host Malaysia continued its losing streak in the event with a fourth defeat in a row, this time to Denmark.
Despite making an impressive total of 252 on its home ground, with the middle order all contributing to the total, Denmark’s Hamid Shah and Lejf Slebsager had different plans and the duo took three wickets each to bring the Malaysian innings to its conclusion just one ball shy of its allotted 50 overs.
Suhan Alagaratnam’s bowlers struggled to dismiss the Danes when the side chased down the target in less than the required 50 overs.
Opener Carsten Pedersen (83 runs) proved to be the lynchpin of the Danish innings but after his departure it was up to the whole side to contribute in the run-chase, including the lower order. Bobby Chawla (31 not out) and Hamid Shah (29 not out) made sure the side crossed the line with 11 balls to spare and gave Michael Pedersen’s team its third win of the event.
Scores in Brief
At Kinrara Academy Oval
Nepal 258-8, 50 overs (Khakurel 115, Malla 46, Khadka 41; Allen 2-69)
USA 226 all out, 48.2 overs (Nadkarni 84, Massiah 41; B Regmi 5-35)
Nepal won by 32 runs
Player of the Match: Subash Khakurel (Nepal)
At Bayuemas Oval
Malaysia 252 all out, 49.5 overs (Alagaratnam 48, Durrani 32, Arudin 38; Shah 3-43, Slebslager 3-55)
Denmark 254-7, 48.1 overs (C Pedersen 83, M Pedersen 29, Shah 29 not out, Chawla 31 not out; Ghulam 2-36)
Denmark won by three wickets
Player of the Match: Carsten Pedersen (Denmark)
At Selangor Turf Club
Tanzania 94 all out, 27.1 overs (Patwa 47; Dharmichand 4-34, Abhiraj Singh 5-12)
Singapore 97-2, 11.2 overs (Suryawanshi 62 not out; Nassoro 2-20)
Singapore won by eight wickets
Player of the Match: Abhiraj Singh (Singapore)
