Nepal got off to a flying start in the ACC Premier League, registering 4-wicket win over the ODI nation United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday, at the Selangor Turf Club in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sompal Kami and Mehboob Alam came good with the ball, as opener Subash Khakurel played a responsible knock in Nepal’s comfortable victory, which came with 10 overs to spare. Mehboob, who made his comeback in the national team and young sensation Sompal bagged three wickets each. Subash cracked 71 runs off 91 balls.
Winning the toss, Nepal invited UAE to bat and bowled it out for 191 runs in 48.1 overs. In reply, Nepal made 195 in 39.5 overs losing six wickets. It was the second victory of Nepal over UAE. Nepal was defeated by UAE during their last encounter in ICC World Cup Qualifiers in New Zealand.
Nepal will now take on Malaysia in the competition that features six teams in the round robin format. Hong Kong, Oman and Afghanistan are other participating teams.
Subash, the 22-year old right hander batsmen, cracked 11 boundaries before he was caught by Ajmad Ali in 32nd over. Vice-captain Gyanendra Malla (47-run 37-ball), captain Paras Khadka (30-run 40-ball) and Sharad Vesawkar (16-run 27-ball) were the notable contributors in Nepal’s run chase.
Nepal received an early jolt in the run chase losing opener Naresh Budhayer (2) with just six runs on board. But Subash and Gyanendra forged 66-run partnership for the second wicket before the latter was trapped leg before by Fayyaz Ahmed. The 25-year old right hander hit seven fours and a six in his flamboyant innings.
Gyanendra Malla batting against UAE on Thursday, May 1, 2014. He scored 57 off 37 balls.
Photo credit: ACC
Next batsman Paras hit three fours and put up 59 runs with Subash taking the score to 131. He was bowled by Samlan Faris in the 25th over. Sharad, the only other batsmen to reach double figure for Nepal, hit two boundaries before he was run out. There were no more surprises and Nepal managed the chase easily.
Fayyaz Ahmed of UAE claimed two wickets while Mohammad Naveed, Sarlan Faris and Krishnachandra Karate bagged one wicket each.
Earlier, UAE lost three wickets with 37 runs on board. But number four batsman Swapnil Patil scored 76 runs. He hit eight boundaries and two sixes in his 95-ball innings before he was run out by wicket keeper Subash.
Krishnachandra (36), Mohammad Shahzad (25), Shaiman Anwar (14) and opener Salman Faris (16) were the other players for UAE to score double digit.
The 33-yeard old Mehboob was the pick of the bowlers for Nepal giving away 21 runs in his eight over spell. Sompal gave away 39 runs in his 9.1 over spell. Shakti Gauchan took two wickets and Sagar Pun pocketed one.
In other matches of the tournament, tournament favorite Afghanistan overcame Hong Kong by six wickets with 41 balls to spare. Similarly, Oman registered 74 run win over host Malaysia.