In a rain affected match, serene Nepali batsman crossed the victory mark with 5 wickets in hand.
Nepal didn’t have the best of starts losing both openers quickly at 21 runs. Shortly they lost Anil shah (11) in the 8th over with the total score of 39 for 3. Skipper Paras Khadka with a single boundary tried to rescue the innings by making 28 runs before getting out to Rohan Mustafa. It was the partnership of Sharad Vesawkar and Dipendra Singh Airee that set the tone for the victory. The duo added 57 runs for the fifth wicket.
Airee, with his aggressive nature of play, made a quick 41 runs off 32 balls with 4 fours and a six which proved crucial in the chase. After the dismissal of Airee in the 23rd over, Aarif Sheikh took charge and he along with Vesawkar took Nepal home in 28.2 over’s. His innings of 23 runs constituted of 2 fours, a six and several vital strike rotates. Veswakar stroke a single six in his 41 runs patience innings to secure the win for Nepal.
Amir Hayat was the pick of the bowlers with 2 wickets to his name. Mohammad Naveed, Ahmed Raza and Rohan Mustafa also picked a wicket each.
Earlier winning the toss, UAE elected to bat first after the match was reduced to 29 over’s a side due to rain and wet outfield.
UAE had a brilliant start courtesy of Ashfaq Ahmed’s 41 and Ghulam Shabber’s 32 runs. Despite a good start, Nepal fought back with brilliant bowling performance from Lalit Bhandari and Karan KC. Lalit dismissed 4 batsmen while Karan snapped 3 wickets. Towards the end Adnan Mufi played a fine knock of 37 runs to post a decent total of 171 runs in the board.
