Nepal booked a spot in the final of the ACC Premier League despite settling for a draw against hosts Malaysia at the Kinrara Oval, Kuala Lumpur today.
When the match ended due to bad light, with seven mandatory overs remaining, Malaysia were 101/7 chasing 245 for victory. Earlier, Nepal declared its second innings at 180/6. In first innings, Nepal had scored 226 and Malaysia 162.
Nepal earned 16.5 bonus points from the match while Malaysia got 13. Overall, after four matches, Nepal is leading the points table with 95.5 with only UAE having the possibility of doing better. UAE, with 45 points, have two games on hand – one each against Singapore (59 points) and Malaysia (57.5 points). The maximum any team can earn from a match is 34 points. Hong Kong, who drew with UAE in their last match, is currently second with 60 points from four games.
Resuming the day at 37/1, Nepal was buoyed by a fine third wicket partnership between Shakit Gauchan (47) and Gyanendra Malla which lifted Nepal to 165-6 after Sharad Veshwakar (23) and Paresh Lohani (27) contributed.
Vice-captain Shakti’s 147-ball knock saw just three boundaries while Gyanendra scored 27 off 64 balls with four boundaries. Basant Regmi (22 not out) also played a good knock before Nepal declared giving 245 runs target for the hosts to be scored in less than two hours.
Pacer Mehboob Alam bowled good striking in his first over and seventh as Malaysia were down to 34/3 by the ninth over. But Suresh Navaratnam plucked away two sixes, on consecutive deliveries bowled by man of the match Raj Kumar Pradhan, and three boundaries in an attacking game en route to a crafty 33.
It was then Paras Khadka picked up three valuable wickets and skipper Binod Das one to down the hosts to 90/7 with 14 overs remaining on the day. But then the Malaysians played defiantly till the match come to an early end.
Raj Kumar Pradhan received man of the match.
Photo: Asian Cricket Council
“I cannot have asked for more from the players,†Nepal’s coach Roy Dias said. “I am very happy with their performance as we made a remarkable comeback after our lack luster batting performance in the first innings.†Dias was indicating the stage on the first day when Nepal was 122/9.
(Shakti Gauchan’s photo at the top courtesy of MalaysiaCricket.com)