Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) XI thrashed Sebastianite Lankans by nine wickets on the first day of the Telegraph Twenty20 Cricket Tournament at the Calcutta Cricket and Football Club (CC&FC) Ground.

Mehboob Alam emerged hero in the victory with an unbeaten knock of 70 runs as Nepal chased the Sri Lankan’s 128/8 in 17.4 overs.

Mehboob, who was later adjudged man of the match and received IRs 5,000, hit six fours and two sixes in his innings lasting 49 balls. He and Sharad Vesawkar ensured Nepal’s thumping victory after Paresh Lohani (4) was out early. Sharad scored 51 not out in 48 balls with three fours and a six.

Earlier, Sebastianite won the toss and elected to bat first. Riding on Chamath Perera’s 41 off 29 balls made with five fours and a six and Shanuka Pregith’s 24 off 22 deliveries, they scored 128/8 in allotted 20 overs.

Basant Regmi picked two wickets but went for 27 runs in his three overs. Captain Binod Das, Mehboob and Shakti Gauchan each took a wicket with Binod being the most economical giving away 14 runs in three overs.

Nepal fielded good effecting three run out - two of which were Raj Kumar Pradhan’s direct hit. “We played better than expected, but we need to improve on running between the wickets,” Nepal’s manager and first international captain Uttam Karmacharya said. “It’s an honor for us to participate in such a prestigious event.”

Nepal will meet Indian Airlines on Friday. VVS Laxman, Vijay Dhaiya, Gagandeep Singh and Ravneet Rikky are expected to play for the most prolific team of the event. “We will try to improve our performance in all three departments, because if we hope to beat Indian Airlines we need to take our game to next level,” Binod said.

The winner of the group consisting of three teams will qualify for the final while the second teams play the plate final. The other group consists of Cricket Association of Bengal, Air India and ONGC.

The event has some marquee names like Amit Mishra, Amit Bhandari, Gagan Khoda and Sarandeep Singh (ONGC); VVS Laxman, Vijay Dahiya, Gagandeep Singh and Ravneet Ricky (Indian Airlines); Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Naman Ojha, Neeraj Patel and Siddharth Dwivedi (Air India) and Laxmi Ratan Shukla (Cricket Association of Bengal).

CAN said the participation in the event would help in preparation for the World Cup Qualifying Series Division V. The tournament, with a prize money of IRs 225,000 will have a winner’s check of IRs 100,000 and concludes on Feb 10.

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