Nepal defeats UAE by 177 runs, retains ODI status

KATHMANDU: Nepal defeated the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 177 runs in its second match of the ICC World Cricket League (WCL)-2 tri-series at the TU International Cricket Stadium in Kirtipur on Sunday. With this victory, Nepal retained its ODI status and moved up to fourth place in the table, overtaking the US.

Nepal had received ODI status for four years in 2018 by defeating Papua New Guinea (PNG)  in the play-off of ICC World Cup Cricket 2018 Qualifier. ICC has extended the ODI status by a year until 2023, citing the impact of COVID-19 in cricket.

After winning the toss, Nepal batted first and scored 248 runs, losing all wickets in 49.2 overs. In response, UAE were bowled out for just 71 runs in 22.5 overs – their lowest ODI total. Nepal was in trouble at 3-22 in the eighth over before captain Rohit Poudel stepped up and scored 77 runs from 122 balls to steady the innings. Poudel found support from the middle order, with Bhim Sarki (29), Aarif Shekih (43), Gulshan Jha (37), and Dipendra Singh Airee (34) all contributing with the bat.

Aayan Afzal Khan, Zahoor Khan, Rohan Mustafa, and Zawar Farid took two wickets each for UAE, while Aryan Lakra and Juaid Siddique had one wicket each to their names.

Hosts Nepal rattled UAE’s top order with a fine display of bowling. The visitors were four wickets down in the sixth over with just eight runs on the board. Aayan Afzal Khan (29) was the highest scorer for UAE. Apart from Aswanth Valthapa (14) and Karthik Meiyappan (11), the other UAE batsmen failed to reach double digits.

Lalit Rajbanshi claimed a five-wicket haul in his first match of the series. He sent five UAE batsmen back to the pavilion, giving away just 20 runs in 7.5 overs, which included two maidens. Sandeep Lamichhane took two wickets, while Sompal Kami, Dipendra Singh Airee, and Gulshan Jha had one wicket each to their name.

Nepal can finish above Namibia and qualify to play ICC World Cup 2024 Qualifiers by winning remaining two matches of the series. It plays Papua New Guinea in its third match of the tri-series on Monday.