[Samuel_Vimes]

Second instalment:

Danish Khan conquer Nepal

The Danish captain, Søren Vestergaard, won the toss and chose to have a bat in this classical encounter against Nepal at Blackpool, in front of 446 Englishmen who readily admitted that they didn't know that Danes played cricket, plus 2 Danish fans. Aftab Ahmed was set up as opener against Das, and he got his first boundary with the fifth ball of the first over. Denmark 10 for 0. Ahmed then hit 7 from 3 before whacking the ball past point for another four! Denmark 21 for 0 after 9 balls. An excellent start for the Danes. Sarraf continued to bowl poorly to Ahmed, who whacked a further 15 in the remaining seven balls of the over (36 for 0 after 16). The third four of the game came with the 23rd ball, when Agrawal misfielded a ball which trickled through his feet and down to the sea (52 for 0 after 23). Then a long hop by Sarraf enabled Ahmed to hook the ball back to mid-on for his first six of the day (73 for 0 after 31) and the quartet of fours was completed for Ahmed with the next ball (77 for 0 after 32). Ten balls later, however, the Danes despaired as the ball found its way between the bat and the pad and distorted the stumps (96 for 1 after 42). Frederik Klokker, the wicket-keeper, stepped on to continue the Danish run-chase. He hit tons of twos and threes, and ended the day on 72 not out - a very good knock by the young Dane. Denmark closed on 168/1.

Nepal's prime batsman, Agrawal, stepped on to the pitch. Amjad Khan tried to stop him from getting the runs, and did so in style - he could only manage two twos in his first over (10 for 0 after 8). Søren Vestergaard was just as good, and Nepal found themselves 147 behind with only 64 balls to go. Agrawal tried, but eventually leant back too far and was caught by Khan again (31 for 1 after 23). Thakuri then got a short beach cricket debut - he scooped the ball straight back to Khan and was out for a golden duck (31 for 2 after 24). Luniya got off to a solid start after that, getting 11 off Vestergaard in the 4th over (42 for 2 after 32) but it did not eliminate the fact that the strike rate needed was an immense 264. Luniya tried to get there, but eventually got a thick edge and keeper Klokker had an easy job to do (47 for 3 after 36). Sarraf, the fourth Nepalese batsman, started off in style, getting 20 off his first 10 balls and scaring the Danes a bit (67 for 3 after 46). Nevertheless, he had to hit three off every ball if he wanted to win the game for Nepal. He got his first boundary with his twenty-third ball, punishing Andersen for a long hop to make it 98 for 3. Andersen then tried to slow the pace of the game, and it worked - Sarraf eventually had to slow down and the strike rate was inflated to 441. Despite hitting three further fours, he eventually became too involved and Khan caught him at mid-off (132 for 4 after 75). Das then hit five singles to make it 137, but Denmark still win by 31 runs in a highly entertaining encounter. Aftab Ahmed Man of the Match with his splendid 96 knock off just 42 balls to make this possible for the Danes, who now face New Zealand in the first round proper.

Scorecards:

Denmark innings:

Aftab Ahmed................b Sarraf..........96 (42)
F Klokker.....................not out...........72 (38)
Total (for 1 wicket, 80 balls)............168

Bowling: Das 32-65-0, Sarraf 32-69-1, Luniya 16-34-0.

Nepal innings:

P Agrawal.............c & b Khan.............31 (23)
G Thakuri..............c & b Khan...............0 (1)
P Luniya.......c Klokker.b Khan............16 (12)
JP Sarraf......c Khan.....b Andersen.....85 (39)
BK Das........................not out..............5 (5)
Total (for 4 wickets, 80 balls)...........137

Bowling: Khan 32-52-3, Vestergaard 32-58-0, Andersen 16-27-1.

First round proper: Ireland v South Africa, West Indies v Zimbabwe, Scotland v Sri Lanka, India v Kenya, Namibia v Australia, England v Holland, Denmark v New Zealand, Pakistan v Bangladesh.