Nepal has been playing international cricket since 1996. It’s well over 28 years since we played our first-ever match on the international stage. Yet, one question lingers in the minds of every cricket fan: Why haven’t we beaten a Test nation? After all, we’ve had success against cricketing giants like India, South Africa, New Zealand, and Pakistan at the junior levels.
This article explores what has prevented Nepal from securing its first victory against the big boys. We have come close on multiple occasions, including in the recently concluded ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Many fans believe that Nepal should have won at least one of their matches against South Africa and Bangladesh, particularly against the Proteas. Fair enough—when you need just 31 runs off 39 balls, you should close out the game, right? Well, not if you’re on the Nepal team.
The record book tells a stark story: Nepal has played 13 matches against Test nations and lost all 13 across both formats. There are also several List-A and T20 matches in which Nepal has faced Test-playing nations. Notably, Nepal lost two matches against Zimbabwe and Afghanistan quite easily during the Cricket World Cup Qualifier back in 2018, bringing the total to 15 losses in 15 matches. However, this article isn’t about showcasing our poor statistics. Instead, let’s count how many of these matches we could or should have won.
Close Calls: Matches Nepal Could Have Won
Long before the recent close matches against South Africa and Bangladesh, Nepal had another opportunity to beat a Test side in 2019 during the Oman Pentangular T20I Series. Facing Ireland, Nepal was comfortably placed at 73/2 at the halfway mark while chasing 146. Suddenly, the team found itself at 104/5 in the 16th over, still needing 42 runs in the last four overs. They eventually lost by 13 runs. Did they relax a bit? Perhaps. After reaching 73/2, Nepal took only 11 runs in the next three overs. Dipendra Singh Airee had just arrived at the crease after the fall of Ishan Pandey and faced 14 of the 18 deliveries that followed, scoring just 9 runs. Nepal lost four wickets in four balls, collapsing from 100/2 to 101/4 in just four deliveries. Even Karan KC, Nepal’s magician, couldn’t rescue the team this time. Despite his efforts, including hitting a six and a four off the first two deliveries of Mark Adair’s last over, Nepal’s hopes were dashed when Karan was dismissed on the next ball.
Three years later, in 2022, Nepal had another chance to beat a Test side during the Oman Quadrangular T20I Series—again against Ireland, at the same venue, but with a much lower target. Nepal restricted Ireland to 127 in the first innings. This match is remembered for Mark Adair’s last over, Nepal’s hopes were dashed when Karan was dismissed on the next ball.—choosing not to run out Ireland’s Andy McBrine after Kamal Singh Airee accidentally tripped him. Aasif’s gesture won the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award and was well-received by everyone, including Nepali fans. However, McBrine hit a six on the very next ball, and Nepal lost by 16 runs. Despite a decent 26-run opening stand, Nepal kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Without Karan KC, there was more hope than belief as Nepal needed 24 runs from the final two overs—a gettable target in T20 cricket. Kamal Singh Airee hit a six, and young Kushal Malla was still at the crease, but he had consumed 14 deliveries for his 8 runs at that stage. Lightning didn’t strike twice, but once again, Nepal lost a match they could have won.
A year later, in 2023, the two sides met again during the ICC World Cup Qualifier. After posting a competitive 268/9, thanks to brilliant lower-order contributions from Sandeep Lamichhane (32) and Gulshan Jha (57), Nepal appeared to be in a strong position. Sandeep and Gulshan’s 80-run stand for the eighth wicket gave Nepal momentum. At the halfway mark of the second innings, Ireland was struggling at 134/5, and it seemed like Nepal might finally break their duck against a Test nation. Yet, Ireland managed to sneak a two-wicket win, and another golden opportunity slipped away.
Since Monty Desai took over from Manoj Prabhakar, Nepal’s team has looked different—at times, even invincible at home. They won an incredible 11 out of their last 12 games to finish inside the top 3 and book a ticket to Zimbabwe last year. In the first game of the tournament, Asif Sheikh and Kushal Bhurtel gave Nepal a rollicking start with a sensational 171-run stand for the opening wicket. Kushal Bhurtel was on the verge of becoming the first Nepali batter to scorea century against a Test nation but was bowled for 99 by Wellington Masakadza. Asif Sheikh, another half-centurion, soon departed after scoring 66. Nepal eventually finished on 290/8, falling 20-30 runs short after a big opening partnership. Zimbabwe had little trouble chasing the total, as both Skipper Craig Ervine and Sean Williams struck centuries.
Four days later, Nepal faced the unpredictable West Indies, who later lost to Zimbabwe and the Netherlands and failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time. Once again, Nepal had a good start with the ball, reducing West Indies to 55/3. Karan KC produced an edge off Nicholas Pooran’s bat, but Asif Sheikh failed to take a difficult catch. The West Indies went on to post a mammoth 339/7, bombarding Nepal with short-pitched deliveries to secure a 101-run win. You could argue that the West Indies’ experience would have helped them win anyway, but it was another missed opportunity for Nepal.
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup (2024)
Nepal entered the tournament with hopes of defeating the Netherlands and sneaking a win against one of the Asian teams. However, things didn’t go as planned after a loss to the Netherlands in the first game. Nepal struggled to adapt to tricky conditions, managing only 106 runs. Anil Sah later revealed that the team had aimed for 150-160 after watching the opening game between Canada and the USA, where 190 runs were easily chased. It was too late when they realized that 135 could have been a match-winning total on that surface. Dropped catches didn’t help either, and the Netherlands won by 6 wickets.
The next game was washed out, leaving Nepal to face South Africa—the match that will haunt Nepali players and fans for a long time. Everything was going according to plan as Nepal managed to restrict a fearsome South African batting lineup to 115/7. Most fans feared that South Africa might post 200-plus runs, but Nepal’s bowlers did an excellent job. However, Makram separated the opening pair of Asif Sheikh and Anil Sah, who had put Nepal in a strong position with a 50-run stand. Despite Anil’s departure, Nepal was still in control with only 30 runs required from six overs. But the next 28 balls produced only 18 runs before Sompal Kami hit a six and took two runs to bring the equation down to 8 runs from the final over. Unfortunately, Sompal didn’t get a chance to strike in the last over, leaving Gulshan Jha, who had just arrived at the crease, to face two dots. The pressure shifted back to Nepal. Gulshan managed to crash a boundary on the third ball and took a couple on the fourth, leaving just two runs needed from the final two deliveries. But he failed to connect on the last two balls. Sompal attempted a run, but Gulshan was run out at the other end. Fans were left in disbelief, not only because of the loss but also because Gulshan hesitated after a ball from wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock hit him on the back.
Before the match, no one expected Nepal to get close to beating South Africa. People would have laughed if someone had predicted that “Nepal would almost beat South Africa tomorrow” Yet, they nearly did. It was the third close match South Africa won in four games. The heart-wrenching defeat sent shockwaves among Nepali fans. As if that wasn’t enough, Nepal lost another game after bowling out Bangladesh for just 106. Chasing 107 runs, Nepal had the worst possible start, slumping to 26/5 before Kushal Malla and Dipendra Singh Airee steadied the ship with a 52-run partnership. Once Malla was dismissed, Nepal added only seven runs for the last four wickets, eventually being bowled out for 85, handing a 21-run victory to Bangladesh. To be fair, the wicket wasn’t easy to bat on in either match. However, Nepali batters failed to apply themselves in both encounters. Perhaps things could have been different had they defeated South Africa in the previous match. Instead, they threw away their wickets against Bangladesh when all that was needed was sensible batting. The conditions weren’t alien to Nepali batters—it was just that the occasion, the opposition, and the stage were bigger, and they succumbed to the pressure in both games. Anil Sah later regretted his half-hearted shot against
Markram.
In each of the above cases, Nepal struggled to win those crunch moments and was therefore deprived of victory. Nobody knows when our first win against a Test side will come, but one thing is for sure: this young team has the potential to steamroll opponents if they play freely. They have shown glimpses of brilliance. It is just a matter of crossing the final hurdle.
Read More from Samraat Maharjan :
