Nepal have struggled in the Top End T20 Series in Darwin, Australia. It is the first time that the Rhinos are playing cricket in Australia, debuting in the series’ fourth edition. The Rhinos, however, are yet to find a win.

On Saturday, the visitors suffered a second loss in the series, where 11 of the participants would play six matches each in a single round-robin format. The Rhinos had lost to the hosts, NT Strike, by 42 runs on Friday before they were defeated by the young Tigers by 32 runs on Saturday.

Bangladesh’s A team elected to bat first at Marrara Cricket Ground No 2 and posted 186/6 in the first inning against Nepal.

Openers Jisham Alam and Mohammad Naim made a solid start. When Nepal took the first wicket, with Sandeep Lamichhane getting Naim caught out in 6.4 overs, Bangladesh were at 62.

But Bangladesh’s top order continued haunting Nepali bowlers. Nandan Yadav struck Alam out for an lbw in the 13th over, but he had already crossed the half-century mark; Alam got out at 73 off 46.

When in-at-three Saif Hassan (11 off 11) got run out, Bangladesh were at 130/3 in 13.2 overs. But as in-at-four Afif Hossain stood his ground, Bangladesh reached a defendable total.

Hossain stayed not out with two runs short of his 50 while the batters who followed him—skipper Nurul Hasan, Mahidul Islam Ankon and Tofael Ahmed—could only add 17 runs in total.

Hasan was a victim of Karan KC while Rijan Dhakal sent back Ankon and Ahmed.

Compared to the game against NT Strike, head coach Stuart Law had made three changes to Nepal’s playing XI on Saturday. Somapl Kami, Rupesh Singh and Shahab Alam were replaced by Dhakal, KC and Yadav.

In turn, Nepal could only manage 154/7 with the bat. Bangladesh’s top four had scored 157 runs while Nepal’s first four batters—Kushal Bhurtel (12 off 7), Aasif Sheikh (28 off 24), Lokesh Bam (15 off 10) and skipper Rohit Paudel (10 off 13)—contributed 65, only six runs more than in-at-five Kushal Malla (59 off 47).

Malla’s comeback

Malla, who is fifth in the list of Nepal’s all-time run scorers in T20Is, was not in the squad when Law’s men, in June, toured the United Kingdom and then reached Scotland for the ICC CWC League 2 and T20I friendlies.

His last T20I was on April 13 against Kuwait during the Quadrangular Series in Hong Kong, which also comprised Qatar. In his four games in the series, Malla could only manage four runs in two of the matches he got to bat, both against Kuwait. In the second match against Kuwait, he was out for a golden duck.

Malla’s last good batting score in T20I was on October 20 last year when Nepal were touring the USA. He played a match-winning knock in that match, staying not out at 44 off 30 alongside in-at-three Bhurtel (40 off 32) to help chase 157 runs with eight wickets and eight balls to spare.

After the match against Bangladesh, Malla was the fourth-highest run getter in the Top End T20 Series. He has 93 runs in two matches. He was also Nepal’s highest scorer in the match against NT Strike, having scored 34 off 26.

A left-hander, Malla, who has one of the highest individual scores in a T20I match (137 off 50 against Mongolia in September 2023), has likely impressed Law with his last two performances and increased his chance to be a man to count for the coach in the upcoming games.

A slow left-arm orthodox with the ball, Malla has, however, not been used in the bowling attack by Law in the two games in Darwin, a move which suggests that Malla has been asked to focus only on his batting. In the 27 innings he has bowled in 51 T20Is for Nepal, Malla has bagged 19 wickets.