21 JAN 2015, Adelaide - After a morale-boosting victory over big team the Netherlands, Nepal are taking on 2003 World Cup participants Canada in their third match of the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 at the Wanderers in Windhoek, Namibia, on Tuesday.
Nepal opened their campaign with a
shocking two-run loss against Uganda whom they had beaten in the Division 3 final in Malaysia in October last year. Nepal, however, bounced back registering their biggest
The historic win against the Netherlands not only relieved Pubudu Dassanayake and his boys but also brought Nepal’s Division 1 aspirations back on track. Nepal are yet to play one of the tournament favourites hosts Namibia, who have one World Cup appearance to their name, along with two-time World Cup participants Kenya.
With three big games on line, Nepal cannot afford to lose the match against Canada, who had edged the Paras Khadka-led side by 12 runs in the only meeting between the two teams during the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in New Zealand last year in January. Having gone through a lot of tests in their first two games, Khadka said his team will not be buoyed by the win against the Dutch.
Canada began the tournament with a 67-run crushing from the Netherlands before they fought back easing past Kenya by 46 runs on Sunday. “Canada are a very good team. We are in a tournament where all teams are fairly competitive and we cannot relax against any of them,” Khadka told The Kathmandu Post.
“The victory against the Netherlands has boosted our morale but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we have suddenly emerged as the favourites. We need to play every match like the final,” added the Nepali skipper. Nepal bowlers did a splendid job by restricting both Uganda and the Dutch to below 200 run-mark but the batsmen struggled in the chase with both games decided in the last over.
Khadka said his team is left to execute plans properly. “Each individual has been giving 100 per cent from their part but the proper execution of plan is necessary. The first two games taught us how to handle the pressure and we now have to play with a positive mindset,” added Khadka.
Dassanayake would probably stick to the same side that played the first two matches although his batsmen didn’t fare well in the first two games. “We played the match against Uganda in a bad wicket with a very big ground. There cannot be any excuses for batting failures though,” said the coach.
Khadka was expecting to play under good conditions. “Although both teams play under same conditions, our batsmen didn’t have best of the wicket in the first two games. We are playing against Canada in a ground that will also host the final and hopefully it will have good wicket,” Khadka said.
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