Raju Basnet of Nepal celebrates his second wickets.
Photo: Bikash Karki/NepalCricket.com
Nepal will begin the third and the last day of the three-day match against United Arab Emirates with hopes of pulling out its first-ever win against the tough opponent at the TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur after taking a lead of 168 runs on the second day.
At stumps, Nepal was 45/2 in its second innings with Kaniska Chaugai (25) and Shakti Gauchan (4) at the crease. Nepal has accumulated 11 bonus points while UAE has 7.5. Nepal needs to win the match with at least 7.5 bonus points to qualify for the semifinals of the ICC InterContinental Cup. The match also serves as an ACC Fast Track Countries Tournament tie.
Nepal today declared the first innings at 287/7 as soon as Sarad Vesawkar was dismissed. Sarad, who was unbeaten 73 overnight, couldn’t complete his century as his flick off Ahmed Nadeem was caught at square leg when he was on 89.
Nepal bowled out UAE for 164 runs in its first innings that lasted 81.2 overs and began second innings with 17 overs remaining on the day. Raju Basnet took three wickets while Shakti Gauchan took two. Binod Das, Mehboob Alam, Raj Kumar Pradhan and Dhirendra Chand each took a wicket.
It was UAE opener Arshad Ali who anchored the innings with a brilliant innings of 81 runs of 250 balls after being dropped by Dipendra when he was on 21 to save UAE the blushes. Nepal also dropped two other catches. The visiting team played slowly in an attempt to avoid defeat which could see Nepal qualify for the semifinals of the ICC InterContinental Cup.
Earlier, Sarad missed out a century by 11 runs disappointing many fans who reached the ground early to see him reach the milestone. Captain Binod Das scored 17 off 32 deliveries before cutting one straight to the third-man fielder.