With Kushal Bhurtel’s record all-round performance, Nepal ended the tournament with a 3-wicket consolation win against UAE A in the final match of the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup.
Both teams were already out of the semi-final race. India A and Pakistan A from Group B, and Sri Lanka A and Bangladesh A from Group A, have reached the semi-finals. In the previous two matches of the tournament, Nepal was defeated by India A and Pakistan A.
Nepal met the target of 158 runs given by UAE at the P Sara Oval ground in Colombo, Sri Lanka, losing 7 wickets in 23 overs.
Opener Kushal Bhurtel scored the highest 71 runs for Nepal during which he hit 9 fours and 4 sixes in 43 balls. Dev Khanal and Sundeep Jora scored 24 runs each, and Gulsan Jha scored 11 runs.
Kushal and Dev shared a 98-run partnership for the second wicket after opener Arjun Saud was dismissed without opening his account on the first ball. After Kushal was caught out by Mohammad Faraazuddin in the thirteenth over, Nepal lost consecutive wickets. As a result, 7 wickets were lost after adding 53 more runs from 98/0. Kushal Malla scored 2 unbeaten runs, and Pratish JC scored 8 unbeaten runs to reach victory.
UAE A’s bowler Mohammad Faraazuddin alone took 5 wickets in which 36 runs were spent with 1 maiden over in 6 overs. Muhammad Jawadullah took 2 wickets.
Earlier, UAE A, who won the toss and batted, made 157 runs in 44 overs. UAE opener Lovepreet Singh top-scored with 52 runs.
UAE started well and lost only 2 wickets after scoring 96 runs. But then leg-spinner Kushal Bhurtel ruined the innings by taking 6 wickets. Bhurtel took 6 wickets for 40 runs in 10 overs while registering the third-best spell of Nepal’s List A History. Another leg-spinner, Shyam Dhakal, took 2 wickets, and Kushal Malla and Pawan Sarraf took 1 wicket each.
Kushal Bhurtel ‘s record
Kushal Bhurtel became the only cricketer to score more than five wickets and a half-century in a single match of List A cricket for Nepal. Kushal’s spell (10-0-40-6) is also Nepal’s third-best spell in List A cricket. Earlier, leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane took 6 wickets in one innings against Papua New Guinea and USA.
