Nepal wrap up Emerging Teams Asia Cup with win

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu July 20: Kushal Bhurtel shone with his bat and bowl as Nepal notched up a three-wicket win over the UAE A to wrap up the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Colombo on Thursday.

With two defeats and one victory Nepal finished in third place in Group B. 

Nepal chased the 158-run victory target successfully in 23 overs losing seven wickets. Opener Bhurtel scintillated with his bat to contribute the highest with 71 runs. He cracked nine fences and four maximums off 43 balls. 

He also excelled with his spin bowling by picking six wickets. 

After losing his opening partner Arjun Saud for Duck, Bhurtel put on the 98 runs partnership for the second wicket with Dev Khanal to build the foundation for the win. 

He parted away in the 12.5 with 98/2 on the scoreboard. Khanal also followed Bhurtel in the dugout in the 14.5 overs. Khanal chipped in 24 runs off 38 balls. 

Captain Rohit Kumar Paudel then played second fiddles to Sundeep Jora and Gulshan Kumar Jha to keep the run ticking on the scoreboard. 

Paudel paired with Jora to add 21 runs for the fourth wicket and teamed up with Jha to put on 25 runs for the fifth wicket partnership. 

Jora chipped in with a 15-ball 24 cameo that included two sixes and one boundary. Jha garnered 11 runs off 18 balls while Captain Paudel scored 11-ball 9. 

Pratis GC clubbed two boundaries in a row to kill the match for Nepal. Kushal Malla was not out with two runs. 

UAE’s bowler Mohammed Farazuddin gave a scare to Nepal by dismissing five batters. Muhammad Jawadullah picked two wickets for Nepal. 

Earlier, the UAE A opted to bat first and was all out posting 157 runs in 44 overs.  Bhurtel’s leg spin did most of the damage to pack up the Gulf nation to a modest score. 

He gave away 40 runs to dismiss six opponent batters in his spell of 10 overs. 

Other spinners also played their part in the destruction of the UAE. 

Shyam Dhakal claimed two wickets while Kushal Malla and Pawan Sarraf had one each. 

Opener Lovepreet Singh was the top run-fetcher for the UAE with a half-century knock of 82-ball 52 that included six fours and one six. 

Aryansh Sharma (30-ball 14), Ethan Dsouza (25-ball 18), wicket Keeper Ashwant Vlathapa (32-ball 16)and Jash Ginyani (25-ball 13) were other double-digit scorers for the UAE. 

Singh put on the 39-run partnership with Sharma for the first wicket and a 44-run partnership with Dsouza for the third wicket.