Uganda and Nepal have secured promotion to the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2014 after their final group matches of the Pepsi ICC Worl...
On a day when three teams had a chance to claim the vital second position on the table, Nepal defeated Italy by eight wickets and Bermuda defeated USA by five wickets, resulting in Nepal overtaking USA on the points table based on net run rate. Nepal defeated Italy by eight wickets at St. David's CC to secure a spot in tomorrow's final, as well as a position in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2014.Sitting third on the ladder after four rounds, Nepal needed a convincing victory to try and knock USA out of second position. Chasing 128 for victory after restricting the European side to 127 from its 50 overs, openers Subash Khakurel and Pradeep Airee wasted no time, putting on an 87-run partnership from 12 overs. Captain Paras Khadka smashed 22 from only 8 balls, while Gyanendra Malla struck two shots - one six and one four - to still be at the crease alongside Airee (42 not out) when the side reached 129, and victory, in the 15th over. Luis Di Giglio and Fida Hussain took one wicket apiece.
Earlier, Italy started slowly, with openers Hayden Patrizi (4) and Andrew Northcote (10) patiently facing down the fierce Nepal bowling attack to set the foundation. Stalwarts Peter Petricola (31) and Carl Sandri (39) increased the run rate, but a decisive three-wicket haul by Rahul Vishwakarma tore through the vital middle order, and Italy was struggling at 108 for six in the 37th over. While no other batsmen made significant contributions, Italy batted out its innings for the first time in the tournament, scoring 127 for nine. Sanjam Regmi captured three for 32, but it was Vishwakarma's three for 28 that was adjudged the man of the match performance.
Nepal skipper Khadka was pleased that his side's hard work has paid off with a top two finish. "We had to make sure
that we put down a good run rate. Pressure is always there, after having lost both the first two games so we had to step it up. Hats off to the boys for having played so well and for their determination. We had to wait for the results of the other matches, and then it happened for us. They say that when you work hard, things
and luck work for you. That's what we believe in and it worked for us."
Having chased down the total in the 15th over, Khadka admits that the wait to hear the results of the day's remaining matches was not easy. "It was a nervous wait for the other results. After we finished we had to wait about two hours, but thank god we hung in there and it worked for us."
Nepal now faces Uganda in the final, after losing to the number one side on the second day by six wickets. The skipper believes that his side has improved since Monday, and will be focused on winning tomorrow. "We'll think positive and forget what happened. It was good that we were playing as a team today. The momentum is back and we just need to continue the momentum. Like I've said before, if we play to our potential, the results will be pretty good."
Italy skipper Alessandro Bonora feels that his side's batting let the team down. "Today's result was really disappointing. Our batters just didn't fire at all. Our bowling has done really well, I think, but we haven't given the bowlers a chance with the scores we've been making. So it's our batting that's been letting us down, with not enough runs being scored. Today we made 127 from 50 overs, and it's just not good enough at this level, unfortunately."
The side knew that Nepal would be playing hard in order to improve its net run rate. "We knew that they would come at us hard, and we did our best to try and stem that, but it just didn't happen for us today. They played some good shots and had a couple of players who had a good day."
Nepal will play Uganda in the final Sunday night. Looking forward to the final against Nepal, Uganda's captain says that there will be no change to the team's normal preparation. "Nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary. We are going to go out there, and look to play our brand of cricket, try to be as competitive as we've always been, and at the same time look to entertain the crowd as well. For us, it's another great opportunity to play in an ICC World Cricket League final, and we hope that we can play good cricket, and look to hold the trophy at the end of the day."
