Thursday, February 13

Nepal suffer humiliating defeat at the hands of UAE

By a Staff Reporter

Kathmandu – Despite exceptional bowling, Nepal suffered a humiliating 48-run defeat against the hosts UAE in their ICC World Cup League-2 match on Friday as the visitors faltered with the batting department. Nepal failed to achieve a modest target of 169 runs as the team was sent packing by the UAE with 120 runs on board in the 25.1 overs.

Rohit Kumar Poudel topscored 46 runs off 60 balls for Nepal. His innings included four boundaries. This is the second consecutive match in which Poudel missed the half-century mark by just four runs. None of the other batsmen put up a good performance.

Nepal lost its opener Kushal Bhurtel in the fifth over as he was bowled out by UAE’s fast bowler Junaid Siddiqui for just 11 runs. Aasif Sheikh was also sent to the pavilion in the same over. Dipendra Singh Airee was run out with just four runs in his name in the fifth ball of the ninth over. Gyanendra Malla played a patient innings but was out for LBW with 28 runs off 62 balls. Poudel and Malla played a 55-run partnership for the fourth wicket as the duo tried to steer the innings. But after Malla was sent packing, the Nepali batsmen failed to keep up the performance and ultimately lost the match. Sompal Kami was out for 6 runs while Kamal Singh Airee was out for a duck.

UAE’s part-time spinner Wasil Hamid took four wickets in five overs including a maiden. He gave away 15 runs. Junaid Siddiqui took three wickets. Juhar Khan and Rohan Mustafa bagged a wicket each.

Earlier, UAE opted to bat first after winning the toss and posted a total of 168 runs in 46.3 overs losing all wickets. UAE’s experienced left-handed batsman Rohan Mustafa topscored 40 runs off 81 balls that included two boundaries and a six. CP Rizwan also contributed 40 runs from 85 balls. Other batsmen did not perform well in the batting discipline.

Nepal’s fast bowler Sompal Kami took four wickets in his 9-over spell giving away 39 runs. Likewise, Karan KC took three wickets followed 1 wicket each by Sandeep Lamichhane and Dipendra Singh Airee.

Nepal had defeated Papua New Guinea in their first match.

Points Table

Oman have registered 17 wins and 8 losses from 27 matches and are on the top position with 36 points. The UAE are second with 20 points from 16 matches including 9 wins and 5 losses. Scotland (7 wins and 3 losses from 12 matches) are third with 16 points followed by the USA in fourth position with 14 points from 16 matches (7 wins and 9 losses). Namibia are fifth with 12 points from 13 matches (6 wins and 7 losses) while Nepal are sixth with 10 points from 10 matches including 5 wins and 5 losses. Papua New Guinea are at the bottom with 14 losses from 14 matches.

Nepal’s Matches

March 21: Nepal Vs UAE, Dubai

March 22: Nepal Vs Papua New Guinea, Dubai

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *