It was as close as it can get in a thrilling encounter at Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown. Nepal were on the cusp of creating history with their maiden win against a Test-playing nation. South Africa were under pressure but Nepal batters lacked the experience to finish the game. They let South Africa make a comeback. But few strikes kept them in the game till the last ball. Nepal needed two runs off last ball with Gulsan Jha on strike. A run would lead to super over and a couple would have helped them create history. But Ottneil Baartman beat Jha’s bat. He scampered for a single was got run out. Jha only had himself to blame for the lack of game awareness.
It was obvious that Jha and Sompal Kami would go for a single on the last ball even if there is no bat on ball. Wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock was ready for it as well. Baartman banged it in short with angle. Jha wanted to play it square of the wicket but could not get bat on it. Kami ran to the batter’s end. Jha was slightly late to take off. De Kock wanted to lob the ball to Baartman but hit Jha’s back. The batter felt it was over and he would make it to the other end but Heinrich Klaasen picked it up and hit the stumps to prevent the game from going into super over.
Had Jha been quick to get to the other end, the game would have progressed to the super over. As South African players celebrated yet another close win in the tournament, Jha could not believe what he has done. He had his hands on the helmet as Kami tried to comfort him. However, despite a valiant display, Nepal couldn’t cross the finish line.
Paudel lauds his team
Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel was proud of his team for their performance despite the agonising defeat. He thanked everyone for the support as well.
“Very proud of the unit, especially the way we bowled and batted. We saw the wicket yesterday and thought it will be on the slower side. We saw that it helped spinners and thats when we introduced Kushal Bhurtel and carried on with the spinners. We were so close yet a little far. We didn’t do well in the crunch moments but we fought very well. Well be on the other side next time if we play teams like this more often. I want to thank the fans for supporting us. We are very grateful to them,” Paudel said in the post-match presentation.
Nepal will face Bangladesh in their last match of the tournament on June 17 (as per IST) at the same venue.
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