It was supposed to be Nepal’s big day back at the T20 World Cup.
Thousands of Nepalese fans had filled the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas long before their opening game of tournament against the Netherlands on Tuesday.
Even the threat of rain did not dampen the spirit of Nepal fans who had waited a long time to see their players on the world stage.
But the partisan support did not count for much in the end as the Netherlands showed why they are considered a dangerous side in T20 cricket, ultimately easing to a six-wicket win.
Nepal batted first after rain forced the start of the match to be delayed. The pitch at the Grand Prairie Stadium had more than enough help for seamers and spinners and that proved to be Nepal’s undoing.
Seamer Vivian Kingma got the bowl to swing a mile after pitching, forcing openers Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh to manufacture shots at the other end.
Left-arm spinner Tim Pringle (3-20) was the beneficiary as he snared Sheikh and Anil Sah cheaply.
There was a slight revival after Rohit Paudel hit a brisk 35 off 37 balls, but the Nepal captain soon found himself running out of partners.
Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee and Sompal Kami all fell in quick succession to leave Nepal struggling on 66-6 after 13.2 overs, and when Paudel was dismissed by Pringle, the final three wickets fell quickly as Nepal were bundled out for 106 in the final over.
Logan van Beek took 3-18 runs while Pringle finished with 3-20 off four overs. Paul van Meekeren bagged 2-19 runs while Bas de Leede finished on 2-22.
A target of 107 was never going to be challenging but Nepal tried their best to make a match out of it.
Seamer Kami got the early breakthrough but Max O’Dowd (54 not out) and Vikramjit Singh (22) steadied the ship. Sloppy fielding from Nepal allowed the Dutch to keep the scoreboard ticking, but the challenging surface did not allow the Netherlands to get too far ahead.
A lucky run out of Sybrand Engelbrecht at the non-striker’s end made things interesting as the Dutch needed 34 from 36 balls at one stage.
Then, seamer Abinash Bohhara castled keeper Scott Edwards to reduce the chasing side to 80-4.
The defining moment of the match came in the 18th over when Nepal captain Paudel dropped a regulation chance of top scorer O’Dowd off the bowling of Kami in the deep. They needed 18 from 17 balls and from there the Netherlands wasted no time in finishing off the chase.
O’Dowd finished unbeaten on 54 from 48 balls with four boundaries and a six, holding the innings together.
The pulsating contest in Dallas was in stark contrast to the no show in Barbados where England’s clash against Scotland was abandoned due to rain.
Scotland openers George Munsey (41 not out) and Michael Jones (45 not out) batted superbly to take the team to 90-0 in a rain-interrupted innings of 10 overs at the Kensington Oval.
Because Scotland's innings was halted, for nearly two hours, on 51-0 off 6.2 overs, it meant England were left with a revised target of 109 in 10 overs under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.
But before England could begin their reply, on a ground where they won the 2010 T20 World Cup final, a fresh downpour led the umpires to abandon the match, with both teams receiving a point each.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Director: Kangana Ranaut, Krish Jagarlamudi
Producer: Zee Studios, Kamal Jain
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Rating: 2.5/5
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The years Ramadan fell in May
Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The years Ramadan fell in May
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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