Nepali national cricket team looks to break jinx against the UAE as it takes on the host nation at Sharjah Cricket Ground on Wednesday in the ACC Trophy Elite.
Nepal had encountered the UAE six times in the past in the One-Day format of the game and lost all the six matches. The UAE had thrashed Nepal by 94 runs in the group stage of 1998 edition of ACC Trophy held in Kathmandu and beaten by a wicket in the 2000 edition held in the UAE. In the group stage match and the final of 2002 Singapore edition of the tournament, the UAE had defeated Nepal by six wickets on both occasion. Likewise, Nepal had lost to the UAE by nine wickets in the semifinal of 2006 edition held in Malaysia and by six wickets in the semifinal of the 2008 edition.
Nepalis yet to beat the UAE in T20 format also. The only victoryNepalhad registered against the UAE was in a three-day match held inKathmanduin 2005.
However, Nepali team spirited by its title victory in the ICC World Cricket League Division 4 looks to break the jinx against the UAE this time.
“We are focusing on batting improvement to face the team like the UAE andAfghanistan, which have quality bowling,” said Nepali team coach Pubudu Dassanayake before flying to the UAE for the tournament.
The UAE is higher ranked team than Nepal in ICC World Cricket League (WCL). The UAE is currently enjoying WCL Division 2 status and is among the top eight associate nation teams that can play in the World Cricket League Championship, from which top two teams qualify for the upcoming Cricket World Cup.
“Things are moving well for us now and the ACC Trophy would be the real time to check our standard against quality team like Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Oman and the UAE,” said Dassanayake.
Nepal had lost to Afghanistan by 95 runs in the final of last edition of the ACC Trophy held in Kuwait in 2010, when the UAE had crashed out of the tournament from group stage.
AsNepalis expecting to go one-step better this time than the last edition and the UAE is expecting to bring back the lost glory, the Wednesday’s match is expected to be tough for the both sides.
Nepalis slated on the group B of the tournament along with the UAE, Hong Kong, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Nepal will face Kuwait on Saturday and Saudi Arabia on Sunday. Nepal will lock horns with Hong Kong on October 9 in the last group B match of the tournament.
Afghanistan,Malaysia, Oman, Bhutan and Maldives are slated on group A. Top two teams of a group will qualify for the semifinals.