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Friday, May 16th
NPL: Gauchan bowls Giants to victory
A magical bowling spell from skipper Shakti Gauchan led Jagdamba Giants to a 51-run win over Sagarmatha Legends in the Ncell Nepal Premier League (NPL) in Dhangadi on Thursday.
Giants scored 213-9 but defended the total by restricting the Legends for 162 runs in 42.3 overs. Giants had their spinners Gauchan and Prem Tamang to thank for as the duo shared seven wickets between them. The Legends had defeated Paras Khadka led Warriors on Wednesday.
Legends had a poor start to their run chase losing opener Sunil Dhamala (1) in the second over with just one run on the board. But Anil Mandal (36) and veteran Paresh Lohani (18) consolidated their innings with a 46-run stand for the second wicket. Gauchan broke the partnership, bowling Lohani in the 11th over. The wicket exposed their middle order and Legends kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
Rahul Kumar BK (29), Rupesh Shrivastav (17), Mehboob Alam (16) and skipper Binod Bhandari (14) all found it hard to score runs against the disciplined Giants’ bowling. Gauchan returned with an enviable figures of 4-19 from 8.3 overs while Tamang took 3-35 from 10 overs. Shuvankar Sanyasi also grabbed two wickets.
Earlier, Giants were indebted to their top order to post what looked like an under-par score. Naresh Budhayer made a painstaking 72-ball 37 while Amit Shrestha scored a blistering 22-ball 32. No 9 batsman Sompal Kami made a fluent 31 off 32 ball, his knock featuring three fours and two sixes. BK was pick of the Legends’ bowlers with 3-48, while Lal Bahadur Adhikari (2-30) and Rupesh Shrivastav claimed two wickets each.
Tuesday, March 18th
Such an opportunity rarely comes: Shakti
Allrounder Shakti Gauchan , who played a crucial role in Nepal’s historic Hong Kong win in their debut ICC World Twenty20 match here on Sunday
“Playing in the World Cup had been a childhood dream and the fact that I was able to turn the match in the favour of my team in such a historic occasion is a matter of great pride for me,” said. “I have been playing cricket for the last 14 years and this was the biggest day of my career. I was looking not to waste it as I knew such an occasion was never going to come my way again.” Gauchan said that he felt that his confidence rose after studying the pitch and that he could turn the ball here. “Even before landing here in Bangladesh I was confident that the pitches in the sub-continent usually are spinner friendly. The fact that I had been able to do well in Bangladesh 10 years ago in the U-19 World Cup in 2004 was also in my mind.”
He said that after Gyanendra (Malla) and Paras (Khadka) had helped put on a defendable total it was up to the bowlers defend the total. “I was handed the ball at a crucial juncture and with each wicket we were inching closer towards victory,” said Gauchan. The left-arm spinner said that he was under tremendous pressure to perform coming into the World Cup as he has not been consistent taking wickets for quite some time. “At team meetings the senior players were regularly asked to take up their responsibilities more seriously. And such remarks really bit me hard but that also pumped me up,” he said.
“That could be one of the reasons for my wild celebrations on Sunday,” said the 30-year-old veteran. “Those three wickets have been the best wickets of my career and the man-of-the-match award has been the best reward of my career. I am happy that I chose to be a cricketer as I would not have been able to serve my country in any better way.”
Sunday, March 16th
World T20: Shakti Gauchan stars as Nepal beat Hong Kong
Debutants Nepal produced a dominating all-round performance to crush Hong Kong by 80 runs in a Qualifying Group A match of the World T20 on Sunday.
Sent into bat, Nepal first rode on batting heroics from Gyanendra Malla (48) and skipper Paras Khadka to post a competitive 149 for eight and then left-arm spinners Shakti Gauchan and Basant Regmi scalped three wickets apiece to bowl out Hong Kong for 69 runs.
Against Hong Kong today, Nepal made a bright start to their innings after being put into bat with the opening duo of Subhash Khakure (22) and Sagar Pun (13) adding 36 runs for the first wicket.
After Khakure and Pun's dismissal in quick succession, Malla and captain Paras took the onus on themselves to guide Nepal innings and stitched crucial 80 runs off just 65 balls for the third wicket to set the platform the Himalayan nation.
Malla scored his 48 off 41 balls with the help of four fours and one six, while Khadka's knock came off 37 deliveries and was laced with four boundaries.
For Hong Kong, pacer Haseeb Amjad picked up three wickets for 25 runs, while left-arm orthodox picked up two wickets giving away 26 runs. Chasing 150 for win, Hong Kong's innings never really got off as they lost wickets at regular intervals to be bowled out in 17 overs.
Only three Hong Kong batsmen -- Babar Hayat (20), Waqas Barkat (18) and Mark Chapman (13) -- managed double digit scores.
Regmi and Gauchan produced out fine left-arm spin bowling display and shared six wickets between them to rock Hong Kong's chase.
Apart from Regmi and Gauchan, 18-year-old pacer Sompal Kami grabbed two wickets for 13 runs.