Nepal beat UAE by 13 runs

Gyanendra Malla scored a half century as Nepal shrugged off a 44-run loss to the Netherlands with a 13-run warm-up victory over the United Arab Emirates Nepal beat UAE by 13 runs

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Published at : March 9, 2014

Updated at : March 9, 2014 09:06

Kathmandu

Gyanendra Malla scored a half century as Nepal shrugged off a 44-run loss to the Netherlands with a 13-run warm-up victory over the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the Sharjah ground on Friday.

Electing to bat first, vice captain Malla scored 35-ball 52 with a six and five boundaries as Nepal posted a fighting total of 149-8. Sompal Kami then captured three wickets giving away 22 runs to wrap the hosts batting for 118 runs in 19.4 overs.

Opening bowlers Kami and Jitendra Mukhiya struck early on to reduce the UAE to 19-3 in the third over.

Kami had Faizan Asif (1) caught by skipper Paras Khadka in the fifth ball of the UAE innings with just three runs on the board. Mukhiya bowling from the other end removed Amjad Javed (6) and Binod Bhandari caught Shaiman Anwar off Kami in the next over to put Nepal in the driving seat.

Spinners Sagar Pun and Basanta Regmi continued from where the opening bowlers had left off, giving away very little for the middle order to stage a comeback. Pun had Abdul Rehman (12) caught by Khadka and bowled Rohan Mustafa (12), leaving the UAE at 53-5 in 10.2 overs.

Fayyaz Ahmed had tried to take the fight back to Nepal with his defiant half century but did not get the desired support from the other end. Ahmed, who had come to the crease at 53-3, tried to anchor the UAE innings with his 52 hitting a six and seven boundaries. But he holing out to Kami to leave the UAE at 116-9 at the end of the 19th over.

Mukhiya bowled Kamran Shazad to end the UAE innings. He finished with two wickets, a feat also matched by Regmi and Pun.

Earlier, Nepal openers Pun and Subash Khakurel once again failed to lay a good platform. Pun (4) was the first to depart with only 9 runs on the board.

Khakurel carted a boundary and just as it seemed he was finding his foot, Kamran Shazad sent him back to the pavillion.

Malla and Khadka then shared a 64-run third wicket stand to rebuild the innings before the former fell to Javed in 12.6 overs.

Khadka (32) was run out in 14.2 overs with Nepal at the score of 107-5. Three more run-outs in the next three overs saw Nepal shrink to 132-8 in 18.2 overs.

But Shakti Gauchan’s 15 off just six balls helped Nepal post 149 on the board. Kamran Shazad, Manjula Guruge and Rohan Mustafa shared a wicket each for the UAE. Nepal had lost their first practice match against the Netherlands by 44 runs on Thursday.