Opener Gyanendra Malla struck a scintillating century as Nepal hammered United Arab Emirates (UAE) ‘A’ by 193 runs in their second practice match of their preparation tour to the UAE in Dubai on Wednesday.

Electing to bat first at the ICC Academy Oval 1, Malla hit his fifth century in unofficial or practice matches scoring 154 off 131 balls as Nepal piled on a mammoth 333-5 in 50 overs. Leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane, fresh from making it to the Indian Premier League franchise Delhi Daredevils from Sunday’s auction, then picked up four wickets to restrict UAE ‘A’ for 140 in 40.2 overs.

Nepal’s total was built around Malla’s knock, who gave a solid start to the team with Dilip Nath adding 141 runs for the first wicket against the same side they had played in Tuesday’s 25-run victory. Nath was unfortunate to run himself out after making a 79-ball 64 with six boundaries and two sixes. He was the top scorer for Nepal with 61 runs in Tuesday’s victory.

Malla then added another 34 runs with Anil Sah (14) and 64 runs for the third wicket with Dipendra Singh Airee to consolidate the innings. Airee made a run-a-ball 34 with three hits to the fence. Another big partnership for Malla came with Aarif Sheikh as the duo added 82 runs for the fourth wicket as Nepal crossed 300-run mark. The vice-captain was then out in the 49th over after hitting 17 boundaries in his innings. Sheikh remained unbeaten on 41 off 33 with two boundaries. Wasif Ahmed, Karthik Mayappan and Laxman Shrikumar took a wicket each for the local side.

Reduced quickly to 50-3 inside the first 14 overs, UAE ‘A’ staged a brief resistance with a 44-run partnership between Mohammad Qasim and Ali Mirza (17). But their innings began to fell apart once Lamichhane trapped Qasim leg before. Qasim, with experience of competing in five one-day internationals, top scored for UAE ‘A’ with 41 off 52. Ansh Tandon (17 not out) and Chirag Suri (18) were other batsmen to chip runs of some note.

Lamichhane, rested on Tuesday, returned the figures of 4-36 from 10 overs and skipper Paras Khadka took 2-17 from 6.2 overs.

Nepal, who are preparing for the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 beginning in Namibia from February 8, will now wrap up their tour with the match against the same side on February 2. The team will head to Namibia directly from Dubai on February 4. Nepal will meet the UAE, Kenya, Namibia, Oman and Canada in Division 2 which will send the top two teams into the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers to be held in Zimbabwe from March 4-25.

Summary

Nepal 333-5 in 50 overs (G Malla 154, D Nath 64, A Sheikh 41*; K Mayappan 1-58, W Ahmed 1-85) beat UAE ‘A’ 140 in 40.2 overs (M Qassim 41, C Suri 18; S Lamichhane 4-36, P Khadka 2-17)

by 193 runs