Nepal’s last match of the Twenty20 Tri-Series cricket tournament against hosts Singapore was abandoned without a ball bowled at the Indian Association Ground on Wednesday.

The match was called off due to incessant rain forcing the teams to share a point each even before the toss was held. The washout meant Nepal, placed second in the table with three points from four matches, have no mathematical chance of winning the series. Zimbabwe, who registered victories in both fixtures against Nepal but lost to Singapore, remain atop the standings with four points.
Nepal’s only win came against Singapore riding on the heroics of Paras Khadka as the match witnessed several records including the first T20I century from the Nepali skipper. A fiery spell from star leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane gave a huge scare to Zimbabwe in Nepal’s first match of the series, but hemorrhage of runs from other bowlers ruined Nepal’s aspiration of registering their first-ever win against a Test nation. Nepal went on to lose the match by five wickets.

In what was the resurrection of Nepal’s hopes in the series, the second match was all about Nepal’s cricket heartthrob and captain, Khadka. He marked the ton in just 49 balls, leaving behind all the Singapore bowlers in blushes. The nine-wicket drubbing also meant that Nepal had duly avenged their defeat against the hosts at the ICC T20 World Cup Asia Qualifiers, the final gateway to the Global Qualifiers.
Based on the stunning win in the second match, much was expected from Nepal in their second face-off with Zimbabwe. However, Nepal failed to give continuity to the optimism, never really appearing the same side that had thumped Singapore as poor shot selections from Nepali batsmen meant a target of 161 runs was beyond Nepal’s reach. Nepal lost the match by 40 runs.

With Gyanendra Malla choosing not to tour with the team citing personal reasons, Nepal had axed long-time servants Sharad Vesawkar and Basanta Regmi while handing debuts to youngsters Ishan Pandey and Kushal Malla. The decision is open to interpretation as the debutants failed to live up to expectations while Nepal appeared in dire straits in both batting and bowling aspects against Zimbabwe.
Leaders Zimbabwe will play against Singapore on Thursday. Singapore have already created history as their four-run win in the same fixture played earlier was their first against a Test nation.

Meanwhile, Nepal will head to Muscat, Oman to feature in the five-nation series scheduled between October 5-10. Hosts Oman, Hong Kong, the Netherlands and Ireland and Nepal will compete in the tournament.