Bundled out for 85, Nepal falls short by half against PNG in tri-series final

Kathmandu, Mar. 14: Nepal faced a humiliating defeat against Papua New Guinea (PNG) as the two teams contested in the final of the T20 tri-series in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

Chasing a target of 172, Nepal was bundled out in half the score. PNG bowled out Nepal at 85 runs in 16.3 overs.

It was a disappointing defeat for the Rhinos as Nepal defeated PNG by 85 runs only a day before. Losing to Nepal, PNG bounced back against Hong Kong on Tuesday to book a spot in the final alongside Nepal. And PNG made a better comeback against Nepal in the final.

It was the fifth-lowest total for Nepal in T20Is. 

Compared to the match on Tuesday, PNG made five changes to the squad against Nepal in the final. Hila Vare, Chad Soper, Alei Nao, Kabua Morea and Semo Kamea replaced Charles Amini, Norman Vanua, Nosaina Pokana, John Kariko and Jack Gardner on Wednesday. And it was the new players that were the most dangerous against Nepal in the final.

While opener Tony Ura scored 61 off 37 before departing in 13.4 overs as the sixth wicket, the second-highest scorer for PNG was Alei. In at nine, Alie scored 30 off only 10 deliveries in the final overs to take PNG to a decent total of 171.

Hila and Chad also added 18 and 13 runs respectively. While Hila was the third highest-scorer for PNG, Chad was sixth.

Kushal Bhurtel and Aakash Chand bagged three wickets each for Nepal while Karan KC and Gulshan Jha took one each.

While the target was not so difficult to chase, Nepal, electing to bat second, struggled excessively from the very beginning.

With Binod Bhandari departing in the third ball of the first inning with only a four, Bhurtel followed him in the 3rd over. When Bhurtel (5 off 8) departed, Nepal was at 16/2.

Nepal then focused on building the inning with a good partnership and started facing more deliveries without trying to go over the rope. However, as the pressure mounted, poor selection of shots led to more wickets.

Gulshan Jha (6 off 10), skipper Rohit Kumar Paudel (12 off 16) and Sundeep Jora (17 off 13) returned to the pavilion until the 11th over for a paltry. Jora was Nepal’s highest-scorer in the final.

With none of the other batsmen scoring in double figures, Nepal was bundled out at 85 runs in 16.3 overs.

“While the bowling side performed well, the batting side did not step up. We failed with the bat. The way the youngsters stepped up was great, it was a good learning for us and the young players,” said Paudel.

Kabua Morea, Semo Kamea, Chad Soper and Sese Bau bagged two wickets each while Alei Nao took one to clinch the tri-series against Nepal. 

Tony Ura was the player of the match in the final. He was also adjudged as the player of the series as he scored 125 runs in three matches.

Nevertheless, skipper Paudel said that the Hong Kong tri-series was a good preparation for the T2o World Cup in June.