Cricket
Nepal defeated the United Arab Emirates by six wickets in their third and final match at the TU Cricket Ground on Friday to take the bilateral ODI series 2-1.
A record century stand between young opener Asif Sheikh and veteran Gyanendra Malla was instrumental in the hosts' come-from-behind series victory against the visitors. Nepal lost the opening match by 84 runs but bounced back to win the second by three wickets.
Chasing 177 runs for victory, Nepal reached the target losing four wickets in 40.1 overs.
Sheikh remained unbeaten on 88 runs off 119 balls with 12 fours. Sheikh, who had a couple of let-offs early on – first on four runs and then on 10 – scored the winning runs, cracking a four off Rohan Mustafa.
Malla was dismissed for 64 runs off 73 balls with the help of seven fours and three sixes. Malla and Shaikh added 122 runs for the second wicket to lay the foundation for an easy victory.
The two batters broke their own record of 95 runs against Oman last year to set Nepal's highest partnership for the second wicket in ODIs and the second-highest overall. Nepal's highest century stand is held by Dev Khanal and Dipendra Singh Airee, who shared 129 runs for the third wicket against Papua New Guinea last year.
Malla was trapped leg by spinner Aion Khan on the first ball of the 34th over. Captain Rohit Paudel was run out for 10 runs off 17 balls with a boundary.
Fast bowler Hazrat Bilal made Nepal fight for their runs. He had opener Arjun Saud caught behind by wicketkeeper Britya Arvind for nine runs in the tenth over. UAE's Aayan Khan and Hazrat Bilal took one wicket each.
Earlier, the UAE, after being put in to bat, made 176 for the loss of nine wickets in 50 overs.
The visitors were staring at a total under 100 at one point, with their score reading 93-9 in 31.1 overs. However, the last pair of Aayan Khan and Bilal hung on for the remaining overs, adding unbeaten 83 runs – the highest 10th wicket partnership in ODI for the UAE.
Aayan Khan remained unbeaten on 54 runs off 63 balls with four fours and a six. Bilal remained unbeaten on 20 runs with 1 six off 54 balls.
Alishan Sharafu scored 33 runs in 69 balls. The UAE, who were 79-3 in 23.1 overs, struggled to cope with the Nepali spinners and lost the next six wickets for 14 runs.
Fast bowler Gulshan Jha gave Nepal a good, removing UAE opener Mohammad Wasim for 11 runs.
Sompal Kami bowled young opener Vritya Aravind with an in-swinging yorker. Jha then got the better of CP Rizwan (4), leaving the UAE at all sorts of problem at 16-3.
However, Sharafu and Rohan Mustafa tried to repair the damage, sharing 63 runs for the fourth wicket. Mustafa made 24 from 56 balls before being dismissed by Dipendra Singh Airee.
Mustafa's wicket triggered a UAE collapse, as their batters fell playing one rash shot after another.
Leg spinner Kushal Bhurtel bowled Sharafu for 33. Vishnu Sukumaran, Basil Hameed, Ahmed Raja and Zahoor Khan fell cheaply.
Three Nepali bowlers Dipendra Singh Airee, Kushal Bhurtel and Gulshan Jha, took two wickets each. Sompal Kami and Lalit Rajvanshi picked up a wicket piece.
Nepal will visit Namibia for the ICC World Cup League-2, with Scotland the other team in the double-header.
Nepal play Namibia in the opener on December 2 and Scotland on December 4. They start second round on December 7 with Namibia and meet Scotland a day later.
