Kathmandu, July 3
Nepal beat the UAE in a thrilling encounter on Sunday during the ongoing ICC World Cup Qualifier.
The match, which took place at the Takashinga Cricket Club in Harare, ended with Nepal securing a three-wicket win in the 7th place playoff qualifier and will now play Ireland on Tuesday to determine who will finish seventh.
Winning the toss and bowling first, Nepal were impressive with the ball as Karan KC got rid of the dangerous Asif Khan in the second ball of the innings. Despite the best efforts of the UAE batters including Vriitya Aravind, the team kept losing wickets at key intervals.
KC and Sandeep Lamichhane took three wickets each to limit the UAE to a bellow par score of 181. Pratis GC, Gulshan Jha and Dipendra Singh Airee picked up a wicket each.
In reply, Nepal got off to a poor start as the batters continued to struggle with the short ball. Chasing 182, Nepal had been reduced to 63 for 6 by the 21st over but an exceptional inning from Dipendra Singh Airee took Nepal home.
Aire scored 79 runs off 85 balls and had a match-winning 79-run partnership with Lamichhane who scored 23.
Nepal could not reach the Super Six of the tournament after losing to Zimbabwe, the Netherlands and the West Indies in the group stage.
