It was the same old story repeated once again, as Nepal lost the crucial ACC Trophy Elite semi-final against four-time champions UAE at the Selangor Turf Club of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Friday.
Electing to bat first, Nepal made paltry 166 – the score that UAE chased in 45.4 overs losing four wickets to qualify for the final against Hong Kong.
Nepal, nicknamed chokers for its continuous failures in important matches, not only lost the opportunity to play in the final for the second time but also missed qualification to 2010 Asia Cup.
It was fourth loss in crucial matches in last five years. The first in the string is Nepal’s shock defeat against Qatar in 2004 ACC Trophy quarterfinal that stopped the Himalayan nation from participating in World Cup Qualifying League. Then in the qualifier to WCQS, Nepal lost to Fiji in semi-final to miss the spot again.
In 2006 ACC Trophy, Nepal won all league matches but lost to UAE in the semi-final to miss out 2008 Asia Cup berth and then to Afghanistan to third-place playoff to miss out qualification to World Cricket League (WCL) Division 5. With the International Cricket Council (ICC) decision, Nepal played in WCL Div 5 but then missed out qualification to WCL Div 4 losing to Afghanistan in semi-final after winning all league matches.
On Friday, Nepali captain Binod Das won the toss and elected to bat first. It looked like good decision as Kaniskha Chaugai and Paresh Lohani put up 29-run partnership to give Nepal a good start. Kanishka was caught behind off Qasim Zubair and then UAE claimed wicket at regular intervals.
Paresh (24) went at 50 while Paras Khadka and Gyanendra Malla followed suit after putting Nepal at 75/4 in 20 overs. UAE captain Khurram Khan took two of these wickets. Sarad Vesawkar and Shakti Gauchan revived Nepal’s hope by partnering 49 runs before Sarad became Shadeep Silva’s second victim on 33.
Shakti stayed till he scored 35 and then it was all over quickly as Nepal lost last five wickets for 17 runs. Khurram added one more while Arshad Ali returned with two wickets.
Nepal’s hope of defending the paltry total was laid on early blows to UAE. It looked like happening when Mehboob Alam castled Mohd Iqbal’s stumps in seventh over when UAE had scored 20. But Arshad Ali (38) and Amjad Ali (30) played patiently to add 61 runs in 15 overs.
Three quick wickets, two by Sarad and one by Paras to bring UAE down to 100/4 from 81/1 gave little hopes which simmered down as Khurram and Rameez Shahzad scored the required runs without losing patience.
Man of the match Khurram remained unbeaten on 42 while Rameez, who hit Gyanendra for six to win the match, made 31 and their unbeaten partnership yielding 72 runs. Mainstay bowlers Binod, Sanjam Regmi, Shakti Gauchan and Basant Regmi all returned wicketless.
On Saturday, Nepal plays Afghanistan, who failed to chase Hong Kong’s 154, in the third-place playoff at the Bayuemas Oval.
| Round | Semifinal |
| Toss | Nepal (bat) |
| Umpires | SS Hazare & Anis-ur-Rehman |
| Scorers | Banu Suppiah & Norasyika Othman |
| MoM | Khurram Khan (UAE) |
| Result | UAE win by 6 wkts |
Nepal Innings
| Batsman | Fieldsman | Bowler | Runs | Bls | 4s | 6s |
| K Chaugai | c Amjad Ali | b Q Zubair | 10 | 18 | 1 | 0 |
| P Lohani | lbw | b K Khan | 24 | 44 | 4 | 0 |
| S Vesawkar | b S Silva | 33 | 75 | 3 | 0 | |
| P Khadka | lbw | b K Khan | 6 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| G Malla | c A Ali | b S Silva | 7 | 11 | 1 | 0 |
| SP Gauchan | run out | 35 | 67 | 1 | 0 | |
| M Alam | c Amjad Ali | b M Tauqir | 15 | 36 | 1 | 0 |
| M Chhetri+ | lbw | b A Ali | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| B Das* | b A Ali | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | |
| B Regmi | not out | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | |
| S Regmi | c Amjad Ali | b K Khan | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| extras | (b0 lb5 w18 nb3) | 26 | ||||
| TOTAL | 10 wickets for | 166 |
| FOW 1-29(K Chaugai) 2-50(P Lohani) 3-58(P Khadka) 4-75(G Malla) 5-124(S Vesawkar) 6-149(SP Gauchan) 7-150(M Chhetri) 8-159(B Das) 9-159(M Alam) 10-166(S Regmi) |
| Bowler | O | M | R | W |
| Z Shah | 7 | 1 | 26 | 0 |
| Q Zubair | 5 | 1 | 32 | 1 |
| S Silva | 10 | 2 | 22 | 2 |
| K Khan | 6.3 | 0 | 20 | 3 |
| M Tauqir | 10 | 1 | 28 | 1 |
| R Khaliq | 2 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| A Ali | 7 | 0 | 22 | 2 |
UAE Innings
| Batsman | Fieldsman | Bowler | Runs | Bls | 4s | 6s |
| M Iqbal | b M Alam | 13 | 23 | 2 | 0 | |
| A Ali | b P Khadka | 38 | 67 | 6 | 0 | |
| Amjad Ali+ | lbw | b S Vesawkar | 30 | 68 | 4 | 0 |
| S Ali | c P Lohani | b S Vesawkar | 3 | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| K Khan* | not out | 42 | 56 | 4 | 0 | |
| R Shahzad | not out | 31 | 47 | 2 | 1 | |
| extras | (b4 lb2 w9 nb0) | 15 | ||||
| TOTAL | 4 wickets for | 172 |
| FOW 1-20(M Iqbal) 2-81(A Ali) 3-91(Amjad Ali) 4-100(S Ali) |
| Bowler | O | M | R | W |
| M Alam | 7 | 1 | 24 | 1 |
| B Das | 6 | 1 | 27 | 0 |
| S Regmi | 10 | 2 | 17 | 0 |
| SP Gauchan | 5 | 1 | 16 | 0 |
| B Regmi | 5 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| P Khadka | 5 | 0 | 17 | 1 |
| S Vesawkar | 6 | 0 | 34 | 2 |
| G Malla | 1.4 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
PHOTO COURTESY: Peter Lim/Asian cricket Council