It is the first ever title won by the Nepali national team outside the country and only the second title victory in ICC tournaments.[break]
Nepal had lifted the trophy of ICC World Cricket League Division 5 on home ground in 2010 defeating the USA by five wickets. It was Nepal´s fourth win over the USA in their eight encounters in the last four years.
After finishing the Division 4 as champion, Nepal climbed three spots to 25th position in the ICC World Rankings.
On Monday, Nepal displayed a most convincing batting performance after a brilliant bowling performance and easily chased the 146-run target set by the USA in 28 overs losing only two wickets.
Gyanendra Malla top-scored with 66 runs off 65 balls while opener Subash Khakurel garnered an unbeaten 40 runs. Captain Paras Khadka made a quick unbeaten 25 runs to finish off the match with 22 overs to spare. Only Anil Mandal, who had scored a century against Denmark on Sunday, was dismissed cheaply for 3 runs.
Regmi spins magic
It was the brilliant Nepali bowling attack led by Basant Regmi that ensured an easy victory in the final. Regmi claimed his second five-wicket haul in the tournament to bowl out USA for 145 in 48.1 overs. Regmi was the pick of the bowlers in the tournament as he finished with a total of 21 wickets.
The USA, which had lost to Nepal by 32 runs in the league match, was less impressive in the final as the Nepali bowlers foiled their strategies. The USA opened with Amit Mishra, considered one of the best players of spin, and Steven Taylor. Taylor (11) was undone by Sanjam Regmi in the fifth over and Binod Das found the edge of Abhimanyu Rajp´s bat in the next over to make it 17 for 2 in 6 overs.
Mishra and Sushil Nadkarni held the innings together scoring slowly to build a foundation, but Nepali bowlers claimed wickets exactly when the partnership looked threatening.
Mishra became the first victim of Basant Regmi as he was caught by Pradeep Airee. Captain Steve Massiah then gifted his wicket to Paras Khadka with a poor shot.
Nadkarni was back to the pavilion after Amrit Bhattarai caught him in Shakti Gauchan´s bowling. Timroy Allen and others followed suit and a valiant knock by Orlando Baker (39 off 75 balls) was only thing in the later part of the innings for the USA to cheer about.
Basanta Regmi finished with 5 for 20 while Shakti Gauchan claimed 2 for 23.
Man-of-the-final Regmi was also adjudged the man-of-the-series for claiming 21 wickets in the tournament. The left-arm spinner became the first ever Nepali bowler to claim 21 wickets for the national team in a single international tournament. Earlier, Rahul Vishwakarma had claimed 21 wickets in the ACC U-19 Elite Cup 2011 held in Thailand as well as in the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers held in Ireland in 2011.
World Cup dream
Nepal´s coach Pubudu Dassanayake was full of praise for his team. "The team did just what was needed here and deserved to win," said the coach. "When I came to Nepal the goal was always to get this team up to a chance of qualifying for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and this Division 4 win now means we´re one step closer to that goal. We still need to work hard but I´m delighted with the progress so far," he added.
Nepal has already secured promotion to Division 3 after winning all five matches of the league round in the tournament. Nepal will now compete in Division 3 scheduled to be held in Bermuda in April 2013. Nepal will face Oman, Uganda, Italy and newly-promoted USA along with the host in the tournament.
The top two teams of Division 3 will be promoted to Division 2. The teams in Division 2 will get a chance to play in the World Cup qualifying tournament that will feature 10 teams.
CAN retains champions for ACC Trophy
Meanwhile, Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has retained the Division 4 champion squad for the ACC Elite Cup Trophy to be held in the UAE from October 1 to 12. CAN has included Bhuwan Karki, Avinash Karn, Binod Bhandari and Krishna Karki as reserve players for the squad.
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