The Nepal national cricket team – playing under the name of CAN XI- stunned the strong Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Academy XI by 15 runs in the final friendly match played Sunday at the Kirtipur Cricket Ground.

History was created when the Nepali spinners displayed excellent form despite struggling in batting. Shakti Gauchan showed a matured game scoring 50 not out while off-spinner Sanjam Regmi took a five-wicket haul to cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 3-friendly-matches. Nepal batted first, and as usual, they were below par in batting.

The Nepali openers struggled with the Pakistani bowlers’ pace in the early overs and were at 45-6 in 11 overs. Basanta Regmi (2), Paras Khadka (1) and Dipendra Chaudhary (0) lost their wickets in frequent intervals but Shakti Gauchan and Mahesh Chhteri controlled match and pushed the team score to 136 runs.

The PCB Academy started the match in a blistering pace scoring 46 runs in just two starting overs. Acting Captain Paras Khadka then brought in the sharp spinners to restrict PCB from scoring. Visitors then came under reeling pressure when Sanjam took three wickets and Basanta Regmi scalped another, reducing them for 108-9. The last five wickets of Pakistani team were castled out for just 17 runs.

“We clinched a morale boosting win”, former Sri Lankan test player and Nepali coach Roy Dias told reporters. “We played against a very strong side which will help us for our up-coming Division V World Cup Qualifying Round going to be played in Jersey, England”, he added.

The Nepali team suffered a seven wickets and 109 runs loss against PCB in
the first and second friendly matches. nepalnews.com bt May 12 08