KATHMANDU, Feb 12: A belligerent assault on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) bowlers by player of the match Paras Khadka scoring first half-century of the ICC World Cricket League Division Two by any Nepali batsman saw Nepal win by four wickets with 31 deliveries to spare.
He scored 51 runs in 48 deliveries with two fours and five sixes. He completed his 50 in 42 deliveries. Nepal is now on second position on the table with four points after winning their second match in three games. They are behind table-toppers Canada who have won all three games.
The UAE opening bowlers Mohammad Naveed and Amir Hayat picked up one wicket each in their opening spell to dismiss both Nepal openers cheaply to leave Nepal reeling on 10 runs for two wickets in the fourth over. Dilip Nath scored two runs and Gyanendra Malla made five runs facing nine and 11 deliveries respectively. Nepal further lost Dipendra Singh Airee’s wicket on the total score of 20 in the seventh over. He scored four runs in his 13-delivery stay before losing his stumps to Naveed.
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Khadka batting at number three dominated the 26-run partnership with Sharad Vesawkar and 30-run with Aarif Sheikh to complete his blistering fifty before getting out on 51. Amir Hayat picked up his second wicket of the match to dismiss the Nepali skipper caught by Ahmed Raza in the cover region.
Youngsters Aarif and Rohit Paudel then shared a patient partnership of 27 runs to keep the scoreboard moving. Aarif made a patient 16 runs from 33 deliveries with a four before falling LBW to Ahmed Raza when 12 runs was required to win for Nepal. Next batsman Sompal Kami then smashed a six in his innings of 10 runs from five deliveries to take Nepal home. Rohit remained not out on 12 runs facing 41 deliveries.
Earlier, Nepal won the toss and invited the UAE to bat first on the third day of ICC WCL Division Two in Windhoek, Namibia on Sunday.
Sompal Kami, the premium fast bower, led the rout in the reduced match of 34 overs per side. The bowler from Gulmi picked up four-wicket-haul to bundle out the UAE for 114 runs in 31 overs. He removed the Ashfaq Ahmed in his first over of the match castling the stumps and further removed wicket-keeper batsmen Ghulam Shabber to cap an excellent opening spell of five overs. Sompal was supported by Karan KC who dismissed in-form UAE skipper Rohan Mustafa for seven runs. Mustafa faced 16 deliveries with no boundaries to his name.
The UAE further slid into trouble after Sandeep Lamichhane who was introduced late in the innings dismissing Rameez Shahzad and Muhammad Usman in his first over of the match. Rameez could only muster four runs facing 33 deliveries before getting caught by Dipendra Singh Airee. Similarly, Lamichhane drew Usman outside his crease to be dismissed stumped for a naught. Dilip Nath completed the stumping. The UAE was struggling at 54 for five wickets at 17.3 overs.
The UAE’s best batsman of the day Shaiman Anwar scored well-timed 30 runs holding one end of the innings before losing his stumps to the young Nepali leg-spinner. He faced 40 deliveries and registered two boundaries. The wickets kept tumbling for the UAE. The left-handed lower order batsman Adnan Mufti, who scored a century against Nepal in the second final round WCLC match, scored 18 runs facing 28 deliveries including two boundaries. Nepal skipper Khadka picked up an excellent return catch to dismiss the in-form batsman.
Mohammad Boota played an important cameo of 15 runs which included a four and a six in 14 deliveries to stretch the UAE target to 114 runs. He was adjudged LBW off the bowling by Khadka. Sompal Kami returned for his second spell of the day and removed Ahmed Raza and Mohammad Naveed to complete his four-wicket-haul. Both were caught by vice-captain Gyanendra Malla. The UAE finished with 114 runs in 31 overs.
Nepal had defeated Namibia on Thursday by a wicket but lost to Oman by six wickets on Friday.
Elsewhere, Canada defeated Kenya by 59 runs to bring up their third win on the trot for the tournament. Namibia survived an Oman comeback in the match, winning by two wickets.
