Nepal beat UAE to level series

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Nov. 17: Nepal bounced back in the three-match ODI Series by notching up a 3-wicket victory over the UAE at TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur on Wednesday. 

Nepal leveled the series 1-1 after winning the second ODI. The visitors trounced Nepal in the first ODI match by 84 runs on Monday.

Electing to bat first, the UAE garnered 191 runs losing all of the wickets in 43.2 overs. Nepal, in reply, recovered from the top order collapse to successfully achieve the victory by collecting 193 runs in 47.5 overs by losing seven wickets. 

Nepal made a disastrous start by going down 13/2 in the fifth over after opener Arjun Saud (0) and Aasif Sheikh (6) became victims of bowler Hazrat Bilal. Captain Rohit Paudel (8) followed the opener duo at the pavilion in the 13th over being trapped lbw off Rohan Mustafa. Gyanendra Malla added (59-ball 26) before being run out by Mustafa in the 18th over. The wicket of Dipendra Singh Airee (13) saw Nepal reel to 89/5 in the 25th over. 

Kushal Bhurtel, batting from the middle, chipped in with his patience 52-ball 35 knock before being bowled by Mustafa in the 30th over. 

The seventh wicket partnership between Aarif Sheikh and Gulsan Jha lifted Nepal’s hope to win after collaborating to a 62-run stand.  Before being the third victim of the UAE bowler Mustafa in the 45th over, Jha top scored with 49-ball 37 for Nepal.

Aarif was not out with 58-ball 33. Sompal Kami smashed a boundary to kill the match. Kami remained unbeaten with run-a-ball 16. 

Mustafa finished with a figure of 3-24 and Bilal picked two spending 33 runs. 

Earlier, opener Muhammad Waseem hammered four sixes and three boundaries to smash a half-century off 46 balls to give a decent start to the tourists. He paired with Vriitya Aravind (39-ball 25) for the 72-run. After Aravind’s dismissal, the UAE lost the wickets at regular intervals. Waseem, Rohan Mustafa (4) and Captain Chundangapoyil Rizwan (22) left the UAE reeling to 112/4 in 24th over. 

Middle-order Alishan Sharafu (43-ball 35), Vishnu Sukumaran (39-ball 15) and Basil Hameed (26-ball 24) contributed with double figures as the lower order returned to the pavilion cheaply. 

Pacer Sompal Kami and Spinner Lalit Rajbanshi were the picks of the bowlers for Nepal by claiming three wickets each. Karan KC, Jha, Airee, and Bhurtel also had their share of the wickets by dismissing one UAE batter each.