World Cup League 2: Nepal wins against UAE

Kathmandu: Nepal won a match held on Friday in the triangular series of the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2.

The series is underway at the Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground. Nepal secured victory by defeating the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by six runs.

The UAE was restricted to 248 runs for the loss of seven wickets in 38 overs while chasing a revised target of 255 runs under the DL method.

For the UAE, Muhammad Shahzad was the top scorer with 65 runs, while Khuzaima Tanveer contributed 49 runs.

Earlier, Nepal had set a target of 294 runs, but the match was interrupted by rain when the UAE was at 36 runs for the loss of one wicket in 4.1 overs. After a delay of around 45 minutes, the match was reduced to 38 overs.

For Nepal, Sandeep Lamichhane excelled in bowling, taking three wickets, while Sompal Kami and Nandan Yadav picked up two wickets each.

Before this, Nepal scored 289 runs in 50 overs for the loss of seven wickets after choosing to bat first upon winning the toss. Dipendra Singh Airee played an excellent innings, scoring a century with 13 fours and one six. He was dismissed on the last ball of the innings.

In the middle order, Gulshan Jha played aggressively, scoring 44 runs off 38 balls. Opener Binod Bhandari made 56 runs off 79 balls, while Captain Rohit Paudel scored 39 runs from 48 balls.

Arjun Kumal added 11 runs, while Bhim Sarki was dismissed without scoring. Aarif Sheikh made 11 runs.

Although Nepal came under pressure early on, the partnership between Airee and Bhandari stabilised the innings.

For the UAE, Junaid Siddique and Aayan Khan took two wickets each, while Haider Ali and Khuzaima Tanveer claimed one wicket each. RSS