For three weeks on tour, the New Zealand Under-19s had been building towards this day: their opening match against Nepal in the 2016 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in Bangladesh.
On a warm morning in Fatullah, Josh Finnie won the toss and elected to field, the pitch looking like there might be something in it for the first part of the day.
They looked to make the most of the conditions — with two fast bowlers up front. The plan was to attack batsmen that they knew would come out and play shots, force them onto the back foot and make them uncomfortable with good use of the short ball.
And, Ben Sears and Nathan Smith started the job quite reasonably. But the Nepalese opening batsmen rode their luck and, after eight overs, Finnie called for the first change. Immediately Christian Leopard made the first breakthrough of the day: 39/1.
Fatullah. @ICC
The team continued with an attacking game plan before the side’s leading spinners, Aniket Parikh and Rachin Ravindra, were called on to stem the flow of runs.
Parikh broke through with the score at 50, then Ravindra took a wicket to start throttling the Nepalese at 68/3 after 19 overs.
However, four dropped catches, loose ground fielding and a few too many extras allowed Nepal to settle in, build crucial partnerships and keep the scoreboard ticking over towards a tally of 238/7.
The young New Zealanders were left with a hard lesson in frustration, having given away some 40 runs. Parikh and Finnie had bowled outstandingly through the middle, and finished with figures of 1/21 from seven,and 1/26 from seven respectively. Nathan Smith chipped in with three wickets at the death to try halt the flow of runs, picking up with 3/58 from his 10 overs.
The pitch having spent the morning baking in the sunshine, the New Zealanders were on for a good chase. Glenn Phillips started the innings positively, as he always looks to do, but the brakes were applied early when his partner, Ravindra, ran himself out in the fourth over.
The loss of Finn Allen soon after saw the New Zealanders at 32/2 after nine overs, a solid partnership needed to get the run chase back on track.
Phillips and Finnie batted smartly and without risk, and together swung the game and momentum back in New Zealand’s favour with a partnership of 72 for the third wicket.
At 103/2 after 25 overs, the target seemed manageable. However, three quick wickets for just seven runs, including Phillips, Finnie and Leopard, spelt disaster.: at 110/5 after 31 overs, the game had suddenly swung into Nepal’s favour.
Josh Clarkson looked to occupy the crease and play himself in, with the aim of regaining control, but on 15 he, too, lost his wicket.
Dale Phillips (41), Parikh (11 from 11 balls) and Smith (24 from 13 balls) showed intent, but by this stage it wasn’t enough to stop Nepal from bowling out New Zealand for 206 in the 47th over — delivering a famous 32-run win to an overjoyed Nepal.
Nepal had entered the World Cup through the Qualifying route, having won the qualifying event in Malaysia last year to return, after having missed the previous tournament in 2014.
Captain Raju Rijal top-scored with 48, while seamer Dipender Airee’s three wickets and offspinner Prem Tamang’s double helped clinch the dramatic upset.
The victory had been well earned, Nepal having shown themselves to be more tenacious with the bat and more disciplined with the ball.
“This was a great win for us,” said Rijal. “We fielded brilliantly to effect three run-outs and that turned the match for us.”
Finnie said his side “messed up” what should have been a comfortable run-chase.
“We made the target more difficult for ourselves,” he said.
New Zealand now needs to win its next two group matches, against India and Ireland, to ensure they make the playoffs and progress in the tournament.
India survived early scares to beat Ireland in the other Group D match.
Scores in brief:
Group D - India beat Ireland by 79 runs in Mirpur
India 268-9, 50 overs (Sarfaraz Khan 74, Washington Sundar 62, Zeeshan Ansari 36; Rory Anders 3-35, Joshua Little 3-52)
Ireland 189 all out, 49.1 overs (Lorcan Tucker 57, William McClintock 58; Avesh Khan 2-24, Rahul Batham 3-15)
Group D - Nepal beat New Zealand by 32 runs in Fatullah
Nepal 238-7, 50 overs (Raju Rijal 48, Sandeep Sunar 39, Aarif Sheikh 39, Kushal Bhurtel 35 not out; Nathan Smith 3-58)
New Zealand 206 all out, 47.1 overs (Glenn Phillips 52, Josh Finnie 37, Dale Phillips 41; Dipendra Airee 3-24, Prem Tamang 2-38)
