Friday, Mar 14, 2014
Dubai: Through a spirited bowling performance, the UAE trounced Nepal by six wickets in the second International Cricket Council World Twenty20 warm-up match at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium, Fatullah, Bangladesh, on Friday.
UAE pacers Sharif Asadullah, who bagged three wickets for 15 runs, and Kamran Shazad with 2 for 19 bowled out Nepal for a paltry 95 runs.
The UAE won the match with seven balls to spare through Swapnil Patil knock of 33 and Shaimon Anwar’s unbeaten 30.
Speaking to Gulf News, UAE skipper Khurram Khan said: “It is great to go into the World Cup with a victory. Our performance in both the warm-up matches against Bangladesh and Nepal were very good and that has given us confidence.”
When asked about the form of his team, Khan said: “The team is in good shape and all of us are now looking forward to the all important World Cup matches.”
The UAE play their first match of the World Cup against Netherlands on Monday at Sylhet.
In the match against Nepal, UAE won the toss but elected to field.
They began their bowling attack with medium pacer Manjula Guruge and left-arm spinner Shadeep Silva.
With the first ball of the third over, Guruge had Nepal opener Sagar Pun caught by Faizan Asif for 1.
Silva bowled next man Gyanendra Malla in the fourth over for 9.
Subash Khakurel and skipper Paras Khadka took the score to 55 and Sharif Asadullah took his first wicket by having Khakurel caught by Amjad Ali for 28.
Asadullah struck again by having Binod Bhandari caught by Ahmad Raza for 2. Nepal slipped into further trouble when left-arm spinner Raza bowled Sharad Vesawkar for a duck.
Asadullah picked up his third wicket, dismissing Naresh Budayair, caught by Silva for 6, and Nepal crashed to 75 for 6. Shahzad went on to dismiss Nepal skipper Khadka, who scored 27 runs, and Basant Regmi to bowl out Nepal before reaching the 100-run mark.
Chasing a comfortable run-rate of 4.75 runs per over, the UAE lost their opener Amjad Ali trapped leg before by Khadka to the second ball of the first over for a duck.
Raza, who was promoted up the batting order, also fell in the fourth over for seven runs.
Khurram Khan and Patil took the score to 34 by the eight over before left-arm spinner Gauchan dismissed Khan for 15.
It brought together the famous pair of Patil and Shaimon Anwar, who have recorded many big partnerships in UAE’s domestic cricket.
They pulled UAE to 14 runs short of the target when Regmi dismissed Patil for 33.
Vice-captain Rohan Mustafa steered UAE to the target, scoring a six off the second ball of the 19th over and hitting the fifth ball to the boundary to win the match and remain unbeaten on 10.
By K.R. Nayar Chief Cricket Writer
Gulf News 2014. All rights reserved.
