Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong will witness the clash of two debutants - Nepal and Hong Kong - in the World T20 qualifiers, following the opener in Dhaka on Sunday.
Cricket is slowly beginning to get hold of the Nepali sensibilities, while Hong Kong have seen the game for around a century or so now after the English introduced the willow to them.
It is strange that Nepal have not been in the mix of things in cricket till recently as the nation lies in such close proximity to some hugely popular cricketing nations. But now that they are here, captain Paras Khadka has assured to put on a show for everyone.
"I think we are here to present Nepal cricket in front of the whole world," Khadka said. "It is a great opportunity for us. It is not like we have only qualified for this tournament and worked for three months. We have been playing for 10-12 years with hard work and playing continuous cricket. We are here to compete and play to the best of our ability. If we play to our potential, things should be good for us."
Though Nepal have lost the two warm-up games going into the first match against Hong Kong, the energy of the young blood in the team is their strength. 18-year-old Sompal Kami, who could draw some attention in the tournament, will look forward to not only rub shoulders with big names in world cricket but will also try to impress global audiences.
Hong Kong, on the other hand, come into this match with two back-to-back warm-up game victories against much stronger Zimbabwe and Netherlands. The prospect of playing before a packed crowd should keep the two teams going. It would be cricket's gain if any of these two teams make a mark in the tournament. The match promises to be a close encounter as the last time they met, the result was decided in the last ball.
Squads:
Hong Kong: Jamie Atkinson (capt), Waqas Barqat, Aizaz Khan, Babar Hayat, Mark Chapman, Ehsan Nawaz, Haseeb Amjad, Irfan Ahmed, Roy Lamsam, Munir Dar, Nadeem Ahmed, Najeeb Amar, Nizakat Khan, Kinchit Shah, Tanwir Afzal.
Nepal: Paras Khadka (capt), Pradeep Airee, Binod Bhandari, Amrit Bhattarai, Naresh Budayair, Shakti Gauchan, Avinash Karn, Subash Kakurel, Gyanendra Malla, Jitendra Mukhiya, Basant Regmi, Sagar Pun, Sompal Kami, Sharad Vesawkar, Rahul Vishwakarma.
Where to Watch Live [match starts at 7.30pm local time, 7pm IST]
Country |
TV Broadcaster |
India |
Star Sports |
Bangladesh |
Bangladesh TV |
Afghanistan |
Lemar TV |
UK |
Sky Sports 2 |
US |
ESPN |
Africa |
SuperSport2 |
Pakistan |
Ten Sports |
Nepal |
NTV |
Country |
Online Links |
India |
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US |
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UK |
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Pakistan |
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Sri Lanka |
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Africa |