Nepal won the toss and elected to bat at the Somerset Cricket Club in Bermuda. Nepali openers Subash Khakurel and Pradeep Airee put up a 33-run partnership, which turned out to be the highest of the innings, as Uganda´s spin pair of Frank Nsubuga and captain Davis Arinaitwe tightened the screws on Nepali batsmen. Khakurel departed scoring just five runs, while Airee scored 24 runs off 29 balls before he was out in the eighth over.[break]
Shakti Gauchan, who was promoted to No 5 in the batting order, was the only other batsman to make a significant contribution for Nepal. He tried to anchor the Nepali innings by scoring 21 runs from 83 balls. Gauchan was the last wicket to fall as the Nepali innings came to an end with 116 runs on the board. Binod Bhandari (18) and Prithu Baskota (18) were the other two contributors for Nepal.
Nsubuga and Arinaitwe took three wickets each while Brian Masaba claimed two wickets. Charles Waiswa and Henry Ssenyondo took a wicket each.
Chasing 117 runs for victory, Uganda met the target with six wickets and 138 balls to spare.
Nepali pacer Chandra Sawad dismissed Brian Masaba (2) and Amrit Bhattarai claimed the wicket of Arthur Kyobe (18), who scored some quick runs, to limit Uganda to 22/2 in 4.5 overs. However, Roger Mukasa and Benjamin Musoke (22) put on the game´s biggest partnership of 58. Mukasa struck a four to reach the target of 117 and finished one run shy of his half-century. Basanta Regmi was the pick of the Nepal bowlers, taking two wickets for 33 runs in nine overs. Regmi claimed the wickets of Musoke and Lawrence Sematimba (16).
Uganda captain Arinaitwe, who claimed three wickets for 12 runs, was adjudged the man-of-the-match.
Nepal captain Paras Khadka was disappointed with his side´s batting. "We didn´t bat well. You can´t get away with 116, it was below par for a team of our potential. We haven´t played to our potential, which is sad for a tournament of this scale," said Khadka.
Uganda captain Arinaitwe was thrilled with his team´s performance. "Today´s game was very important for us, it was very important to pick up a win against a big team like Nepal. We know the quality they possess, and so it was very important to do well," he said.
"It was a big game for us. We wanted to put them on the back foot as quickly as possible. We executed our game plan as we wanted," he added.
Following the win, Uganda has solidified its position on the points table and taken the lead in the tournament with four points.
Nepal takes on Bermuda Wednesday
Nepal will take on the host Bermuda on Wednesday night in its third match of the tournament.
Nepal will be desperately looking for a win against Bermuda. It will be the first 50-over encounter between Nepal and Bermuda. Nepal and Bermuda have played once in T20 format earlier. Nepal had defeated Bermuda in the T20 match played during the ICC World T20 Qualifiers held in the UAE last year.
"Mathematically, we still have a chance. There are three games left and we just need to win those three games, remain positive and forget these matches. The first two games are in the past and we need to look ahead," Nepali skipper Khadka told ICC after the match against Uganda. "We´ve worked so hard, so it is disappointing that we have not performed better. We need to focus and win the last three matches," he added.
Commenting on the fans who have supported his team from the day it arrived in Bermuda, Khadka said his team wants to win the remaining matches for the fans. "We always get that support everywhere we go. It´s nice to get that support and we want to get three wins for our fans and our country from our three remaining matches," said Khadka.
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