Bhurtel, Airee fire as Nepal snap 12-year winless run in T20WC, beat Scotland by 7 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Kushal Bhurtel’s early fireworks and Dipendra Singh Airee’s unbeaten fifty helped Nepal end their 12-year-long winless run in T20 World Cup with a seven-wicket triumph against Scotland in an inconsequential Group C match here on Tuesday.
Nepal had gone winless since 2014 when they beat Afghanistan and the Netherlands on T20 World Cup debut, but the Rhinos signed off from this edition with a memorable victory in front of more than 19,000 fans at the Wankhede Stadium here.
Chasing 171, Nepal responded with 171/3 in 19.2 overs with Airee’s quickfire 50 not out off 23 balls, with three sixes and four fours, being the highlight of their spirited chase along with Bhurtel's (43) inspired start.
Gulsan Jha (24 not out) also chipped in with two towering sixes at a crucial juncture, putting on an unbeaten 73-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Earlier, Bhurtel had a narrow escape when Brad Currie dropped a return catch and the Nepal opener rubbed salt on the wound with a huge six over long-on in the second over.
With their batters being under pressure, Nepal made a rather cautious start but took charge once their eye was in.
Aasif Sheikh (33) opened up with a six over fine leg in the fourth over, and in the next, Bhurtel clattered two sixes and a four off Mark Watt. As many as 23 runs came off Watt as Aasif finished with another powerful hit over square leg.
However, Nepal couldn’t sustain the momentum of raking in big runs as following overs from Scottish spinners saw the pressure building on the batters, resulting in a few wickets.
Bhurtel mishit a sweep off Michael Leask (3/30) and was caught at midwicket for a sparkling 43 off 35 balls with four sixes and a four. Soon after, Aasif went back in the hut when a thick edge off his bat was collected by Brad Wheal at short third off Leask.
Leask appeared to be all over Nepal when he had their skipper Rohit Paudel (16) caught by backward square leg in the 14th over. But in his final over, Airee hammered two on-side sixes and a four to collect 20 runs off the 16th.
Jha completed the formalities with a four off the 20th over, as Nepal won with four balls to spare.
Earlier, Michael Jones’ brisk 71 steered Scotland to a competitive 170 for 7.
Both the teams were out of reckoning for the Super Eights with the West Indies and England advancing to the next round from the group.
Barring Jones, who struck eight fours and three sixes in his 45-ball knock, Scottish batters failed to convert their starts but still managed to finish at a competitive total on a flat deck here.
It was Jones who did the heavy-lifting in his 80-run stand for the opening wicket with George Munsey, who failed to get any momentum despite staying in the middle till the halfway mark of Scotland’s innings.
While the right-handed Jones pierced gaps comfortably and met the ball with the sweet part of his bat to get boundaries at regular intervals, all that Munsey could do was play a second fiddle while managing 27 runs off 29 balls with four boundaries.
Munsey’s frustration of not being able to get a move-on was apparent when he fell on the final ball of the 10th over, connecting with an innocuous full toss from Paudel with the toe end of the bat. The Scottish opener smacked his bat in frustration when Sundeep Jora completed a fine diving catch in front of him at long-on.
But Jora and Nepal appeared to have claimed a skier when McMullen hit one off Nandan Yadav on the first ball of the 14th over.
Positioned at mid-on, Jora did not have to move more than five paces but to his credit, he kept his eyes on the ball. When the ball eventually did come back to him, Jora didn’t realise that it went through his hands and hit the turf while he fell on the ground in the process.
Jones continued to unleash his big hits and smacked a 94m hit straight into the balcony of his dressing room with the ball settling into the hands of his teammate Tom Bruce.
However, Jones’ innings ended soon after when Sompal Kami (3/25), coming round the wicket in the 16th over, cleaned up the Scotland opener and took a brilliant one-handed grab to take a return catch off McMullen.
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Distillery producing premium craft rum shuts down as LPG runs dry
Bengaluru (PTI): A craft rum distillery near Mysuru has temporarily shut its operations after failing to procure gas for its boilers, amid the ongoing LPG supply disruption triggered by the widening West Asia conflict, the unit's founder said.
Aruna Urs, founder of the distillery that produces Huli Spirits -- touted as India's first premium craft rum made from jaggery --announced the development on Thursday through his social media handle on X.
"Huli is closed from Monday as we are unable to procure LPG for our boiler. We had a public and a private supplier, and both managers categorically stated that the order from above is to only refill domestic canisters..." he added.
The premium, single-origin jaggery-based rum is produced at a micro-distillery located in Nanjangud taluk of Mysuru district.
Urs, however, did not mention how long the shutdown would continue.
Boilers are an essential component in the distillation process, and LPG is a critical component for the production.
Several small manufacturing units have been affected by the ongoing disruption caused by a shortage of commercial LPG cylinders in the market.
As a result, many restaurants, hotels and catering services have either shut their kitchens or are operating under strain using the limited stocks available.
