Singapore Tri-Nation Series 2019, Match 2, Singapore vs Nepal, Review: Paras Khadka stuns the hosts with a brilliant century

Nepal have romped back in the tri-series with a comfortable win over the hosts Singapore after losing to Zimbabwe the other day. Paras Khadka was the star of the day for Nepal as he scored an unbeaten century which helped his team chase down 152 with as many as four overs to spare.

Earlier in the day, Singapore won the toss and opted to bat first. But they didn’t get off to the desired start with the opener Rohan Rangarajan getting out for just six runs. However, his partner Surendran Chandramohan was at his best in terms of hitting and kept scoring the runs at a fair clip. Timothy David joined him at first drop and the duo added 35 runs for the second wicket stand.

Surendran got out after scoring 35 runs in the ninth over and from here on, David took the control of the innings. He stroked a couple of authoritative sixes while also concentrated on rotating the strike which kept the scoreboard ticking. Manpreet Singh who came to bat at four played the second fiddle to him during the 45-run partnership.

Janak Prakash then played an eye-catching cameo to start with and raced away to 16 off just 6 balls. But he struggled to up the ante in the last three overs and most importantly failed to rotate the strike which kept the set batsman David at the other end.

David though upped the ante whenever he could and slammed the half-century. He remained unbeaten 64 off just 44 deliveries as Singapore managed to post 151 runs on the board for the loss of three wickets after 20 overs. KC Karan was the most successful bowler for Nepal who ended with the figures of 2/34.

Khadka’s scintillating knock hands Nepal an easy victory

Nepal needed one of their top-order players to stay until the end in order to chase down the total. They didn’t get off to the desired start Janak Prakash pinning Ishan Pandey in front of the stumps. But Paras Khadka, Nepal skipper, was hitting the ball sweetly and he didn’t let the run-scoring come down due to fall of an early wicket.

Aarif Sheikh supported him well and made sure that the pressure never got to Khadka which led to the latter blasting out the opposition bowlers. Khadka soon reached the three-figure mark as Nepal chased down the target in just 16 overs. The Nepal captain remained unbeaten on 106 off just 52 balls with seven fours and nine sixes while Sheikh scored 39 runs and was not out.

Brief Scores

Singapore: 151/3 after 20 overs (T David 64*; KC Karan 2/34)

Nepal: 154/1 after 16 overs (P Khadka 106*; J Prakash 1/10)

Result: Nepal won by nine wickets.