By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu – A Downpour in Kathmandu has forced the ACC Premier Cup final between Nepal and UAE to be halted midway. The match will resume tomorrow at TU Cricket Ground, with the same situation as it was left off at the end of the 27.3 over, where UAE had collected 106 runs losing 9 wickets. However, there are concerns that rain might disrupt the game again on Tuesday.
If the result could not be determined on Tuesday, a Super Over will be played to decide a winner. However, if the Super Over is also affected by rain, Nepal will advance to the Asia Cup due to its higher ODI ranking. Nepal ranks 14th in ODI while UAE ranks 19th.
Earlier, Nepal’s skipper Rohit Paudel won the toss and elected to field first. Spinner Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi led the bowling attack on Monday, claiming 3-5 in 4.3 overs with 1 maiden. Lalit was close to a hat trick.
If he takes a wicket on the first ball on Tuesday, he will become the first Nepali player to take a hat-trick in ODI. In addition, Karan KC and Sandeep Lamichhane grabbed 2 wickets each, while Sompal Kami and Gulsan Jha booked a wicket each.
Asif Khan contributed the highest of 46 runs for UAE, while openers Muhammad Waseem and Aryan Lakra departed for mere 11 and 13 runs respectively. Basil Hameed was the other batter to contribute in double figures. He scored 10 runs before getting bowled by Gulsan Jha in 22.5 overs.
Moreover, Vriitya Aravind scored 8 runs, Rameez Shahzad 1, Rohan Mustafa 2, Aayan Afzal Khan 5, and Zahoor Khan 0. Karthik Meiyappan remained not out on 1, and Junaid Siddique is yet to bat.
