Following its nine wicket victory against Bangladesh on the opening day, Nepal invited Sri Lanka to bat first. [break]However, the decision to field backfired as Sri Lankan batsmen dominated the game and piled up a huge total of 314/3 in allocated 20 overs.
In reply, Nepal managed to get only 137 runs at the loss of six wickets.
Ravindara was the hero for the Sri Lankan team as he scored 134 runs. The B1 (completely blind) category player smashed the ball into every corner of the field. Ravindara helped Sri Lanka score 273 before being bowled out by Amar Oli.
Sri Lanka´s partially blind B3 player Deshappriya then capitalized on poor bowling of Nepali players to smash 12 boundaries for his unbeaten 75 runs. Gunawardana scored 29 runs while Kumara scored 16 runs for Sri Lanka.
Surya Prasad Bhattarai grabbed a wicket for Nepal while a Sri Lankan batsman was just short of the crease.
Nepali coach Ganga Prasad Poudel said the bowlers gave away too many extras which contributed to the huge total of the opponent team. Nepali bowlers had conceded 35 wides, 19 no balls and 4 leg byes.
Chasing the huge total of 315, Nepal had a terrible start as it lost opener Surya Prasad Bhattarai at two runs. Opener Bikram Bahadur Rana and Ram Prasad Poudel tried their best but failed to get runs from Sri Lankan bowlers and fielders.
Poudel was run out at 13 runs while Rana was also out at 26 runs. Santosh Sapkota (4), Shankar Regmi (16) and Sunil Subedi (8) were the other batsmen sent back to the pavilion.
Amar Oli was unbeaten with 21 runs while Padam Bahadur Badela scored 25 runs. Sri Lankan bowlers bowled the line and length as they gave away only 19 runs as extras.
Sri Lankan coach Jayanth did not comment over the performance of the Nepali team but said that it was a good game. “We are more focused on the next game against Australia as our captain is injured. Hope he recovers for the next game.”
Nepali coach Poudel added that the training for the Nepali team was not enough as there were many lapses during the game. “Fielding was worst as there were many extra runs given to the opponents and our running between the wickets was not good.”
Four of the Nepali batsmen were out as they failed to reach the safe side.
Coach Poudel further added that they were not properly accustomed to the new field. “The main reason for the loss of the game is that Sri Lanka kept us on the back foot from the beginning of the innings” said the coach, adding, “If we improve our mistakes we can do better in the remaining matches.”
Nepal will play against South Africa in its third match Tuesday.
Journalist Ghimire contributes Republica from Bangalore.
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