Bangladesh had no problems brushing aside all efforts put in by the promising and young Nepal, beating them by a comfortable eight wickets in their World T20 2014 first round encounter.
Nepal had seen a small crowd in their first match against Hong Kong on Sunday who were all cheering in support of the Himalayan boys, but today, they were playing before a full packed stadium that was roaring in Bangladesh's support. Nevertheless, the newbies were enjoying all the attention that came their way and would have liked a more convincing show.
There was, of course, the dew factor which played a big part, but Nepal cannot possibly use that as an excuse. They were outclassed and outplayed by Bangladesh. Nepal set a low score of 127 for Bangladesh to chase down which they did in style.
The only shaky phase for Bangladesh while batting came in when Anamul Haque got things mixed up in the middle and ran himself out after a well-made 42 off 33 balls, hitting two stand-and-deliver sixes and five fearless fours.
However, the T20 specialist Sabbir Rahman (21, 20b, 1x4, 1x6) and the usual star Shakib Al Hasan (37, 18b, 1x4, 4x6) saw Bangladesh home without much trouble from the Nepal bowlers. Basant Regmi was the only bowler who had a number in the wickets column, picking up an impressive Tamim Iqbal (30, 22b, 2x4, 1x6). The rest of the bowlers struggled as Bangladesh comfortably finished the innings at 132 for 2 in 15.3 overs.
The first innings though, had more to talk about. The effort from Nepal batsmen wasn't too bad. The same effort could have seen them home against a fellow Assoaicate side but, surely not against the experienced campaigners like Bangladesh.
The top three for Nepal were back in the pavilion with just 39 on the scoreboard. Skipper Paras Khadka and Sharad Veswakar needed time to get used to the pitch. Khadka was there for his team till the last ball of the 19th over when Mashrafe Mortaza clean bowled him. Khadka had made a well balanced 41 in 35 balls hitting five handsome fours along the ground. His partner, Veswakar too scored five boundaries on his way to 40 from 43 deliveries.
Mushfiqur Rahim and team will take a lot of positives from the qualifying round matches. They played their shots and backed their bowlers, they are almost through to Group A where they'll face bigger teams.
