The day Nepal chased down Myanmar's target in two balls

Nepal now hold a close to unrbreakable international record

During the 2006 ACC Cup, Nepal created history by becoming the quickest international team to chase down a target in an official match. They took no more than two balls to reach the score of 10 set by Myanmar in a Group C encounter.

Nepal headed into the Myanmar game with a comfortable victory over Kuwait. On the other hand, Myanmar were the lowest ranked team in the competition, even below Brunei, Bhutan and Maldies, who barely had any cricket experience.

Myanmar's baby steps towards the sport began in 2004, when a bunch of Australian expats introduced it to the country’s landscape. ICC held a couple of grass-roots programme there, and by 2006, the country fielded its first team on international soil.

This was also a time when Nepal was considered a stronger team than Afghanistan. The latter was still stuck in division five, whereas Nepal were consistent division three performers. In their previous game against Kuwait, Nepal scored 317, bundling their opponents out for just 36 runs.

Myanmar had already suffered a thrashing at the hands of tournament favourites Hong Kong. Their opponents scored 442 runs, and Myanmar were bowled out for 20. Burmese batsman Abdul Rahman said in an interview to a local paper, “We can only get better from here.” Within a matter of 48 hours, Rahman found out that things can get a lot worse.

The unfolding of the massacre

Having won the toss, Nepal Captain Binod Das put Myanmar into bat. The new ball was given to their master pacer Mahboob Alamm and thus began the bloodbath. Alam’s performance shook the foundation of cricket aesthetics, which had legitimised the sport for years.

Burmese wicket-keeper Omer was the first to go, plum on the first delivery. Alam then dismissed two more batsmen in Sharjeel and Rahman. By the time captain Das ended his second over, Myanmar were struggling at four runs with four wickets down.

Then it was time for another Mahboob massacre.

After the longest partnership in the innings of 21 balls, the right-arm pacer got rid of Ye Mo Tyun and the captain Tin Aye within three balls. Das then dismissed 'danger man’ Zakariya, who scored a valiant one off 20 balls, in 21 minutes. He went on to scalp Zin Min Swe and Yusuf, with the run tally now looking like a betting prediction slip, rather than a score-card.

At 10/9, Mahboob took his seventh wicket, dismissing Aye Min Than. Myanmar scored 10 runs in 12.1 overs, setting the lowest target in intertnational cricket history.

The Nepal chase was equally thrilling! Aye Min Than opened the bowling, running gallantly with the ball towards Mahesh Chhetri, who calmly placed the ball and ran a three. Dheeraj Chand then cut the next ball and also ran a convincing three. With four balls left in the over, Than knew it could all be over with the next delivery. Hence, he opted for a different route.

He bowled two consecutive wides, attempting to delay the inevitable. However, wicket-keeper Umer failed to collect the third wide, with the batsmen running two and ending the match in just two balls.

Scorecard:

Myanmar:

Omer	0 (1)
Zarkariya	1 (20)
Mohammed	1 (3)
Abdul Rahman	0 (4)
Sharjeel	0 (4)
Ye Myo Tun	1 (11)
Tin Mg Aye	0 (3)
Zin Min Swe	1 (9)
Yusuf	1 (11)
Aye Min Than	0 (3)
Sai Sai Wunna	0* (4)
Total	10

Bowling:

	Overs	Runs	Wickets
Mehboob Alam	6.1	3	7
Binod Das	6	4	3

Nepal:

Mahesh Chhetri	3* (1)
Gyanendra Malla	3* (1)
Total	11/0

Bowling:

	Overs	Runs	Wickets
Aye Min Than	0.2	11	0