Asad Wrecks Nepal, UAE in Strong Position

Irresponsible batting performance saw Nepal crumble to an all time low 64 in the first innings of the three-day match of the ACC Fast Track Countries Tournament.

Visiting UAE took a comfortable lead of 91 runs at the end of the first day that saw 20 wickets fall here at the TU Cricket Ground today.

Nepal were 54 without losing any wicket at the stumps in the second innings with Sarad Veswakar and Shakti Gauchan unbeaten. UAE were bowled out for 209 in 63.4 overs in their first innings.

Skipper Raju Khadka elected to bat after winning the toss at the home-turf but the decision backfired as Ali Asad Abbas, who took 13 out of 16 Nepali wickets in the ICC InterContinental tie in Sharjah, started utilizing the moisture on the wicket. He got his first as Mehboob Alam’s attempted leg-glance resulted in nick and wicketkeeper Taskeen Sadique took a diving catch.

Ali’s opening partner Syed Fawad then proved himself removing reliable batsmen Sarad Veswakar and Shakti Gauchan in two balls. Sarad, who never looked comfortable with the timing, saw his leg stump rattle by Fawad’s late in-swinger. Fawad trapped Shakti leg before next ball.

Young Paras Khadka denied him hattrick but couldn’t stop Nepal’s collapse as Paresh Lohani unnecessarily tried to push Ali’s over-pitched delivery for a run. He missed the ball completely while bounced off his toe and took away his leg stump. Nepal were reeling at 15 for 4 when captain Raju came in.

He showed he was in a mood of playing super sixes and started slugging – three of his towering shots resulted in runs and the other in his wicket. He was caught by Rizwan Latif at mid-on a ball after he was dropped at the same place. He scored 8.

Manoj Katuwal, promoted in the order to for defensive batting, played 18 balls scoring four and was caught at slip by Arshad Ali off Ali. Raju Basnet joined Paras, who scored 11 before being caught brilliantly by diving Arshad at slip off spinner Mohammad Tauquir. Ali Asad then quickly ripped through tail-enders bowling out Binod Das, Sanjam Regmi and Raj Kumar Pradhan while Raju remained unbeaten at 13 – the highest score for Nepal.

“Our batting was very, very poor and irresponsible,” furious coach Roy Dias told NepalCricket.com. “Batsmen went as if they were playing a 30 over match.”

Captain Raju Khadka claimed the pitch behaved differently than they thought. “We thought it would seam only for first 10 overs,” he said defending his decision to bat first. “But we were wrong.”

Ali Topscored Frustating Nepal

Nepal tried to come back strongly with bowling downing UAE at 127/7, but Ali Asad once again started firing with bat. Coming at No 9, Ali scored 45 off 54 deliveries with three fours and three sixes – two off Sanjam at leg side and one straight off Raju Basnet. He added 72 with Samir Zia to take his team to 199.

After 10 more runs, Binod took two wickets in two balls to end UAE’s innings at 209 and return with four wickets. Samir scored 34 off 87 balls. Earlier, Binod had. Kashif Khan (31) and captain Mohammad Tauquir. He also did a splendid fielding job to remove opener Arshad Ali, who scored 29 off 58 deliveries.

UAE’s innings could have ended earlier if Manoj hadn’t missed two regular catches – both of leg-spinner Raj Kumar Pradhan and one of Ali when he was below 10. However, Raj Kumar reutnred with two wickets removing Fahad Usman (25) and Javad Ismail. Raju Khadka, Sanjam and Shakti each took a wicket.

“We came back strongly and the opponent were 127/7 at a time,” Dias said. “We missed a few catches and they got a good score.”

UAE’s coach Syed Abid Ali, who was happy with bowling, wasn’t too happy with batting. “I expected boys to bat well, but they didn’t,” Ali said.

Releived with Good Start in Second Innings
Nepal’s second innings saw two new openers as both Mehboob and Paresh were injured. But the new partner proved luckier as they scored freely without losing wicket for last 17 overs of the day and remained unbeaten. Sarad’s 33 included five well-hit boundaries while Shakti hit two for his 16.

“We will try to bat as long as possible, but that doesn’t mean we need to be defensive,” Dias said about second day’s plan. “Sarad and Shakti showed what positive batting is.”

Hero of the day, Ali Asad said he hadn’t expected such easy wickets. “I just bowled my line,” he told NepalCricket.com. “The wicket was good, and still is good, for bowling and I enjoyed bowling on it.” Asked about his 45 while batting, he said chuckling, “I am delighted with my sixers.”

At the end of the first day, UAE have accumulated 9 points while Nepal have 7.

All Photos: Ujjwal Acharya for NepalCricket.com/Text: No Reproduction without credit to NepalCricket.com