Kathmandu, November 3
Nepal have booked their tickets to the T20 World Cup in the US and West Indies after beating the UAE in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier at the Mulpani Cricket Ground on Friday.
Winning the toss, the UAE chose to bat first on a tricky Mulpani pitch. Even though captain Muhammad Wassem got off to a flyer, two quick wickets put the UAE on the back foot. While Vriitya Aravind stood strong at one end, wickets continued to fall as no one could get going on a slowish pitch where spinners dominated the UAE batters.
Kushal Malla was the pick of the bowlers taking three wickets in three overs and was supported well by Sandeep Lamichhane who was superb with the ball taking two wickets giving away only 14 runs in four overs. Aravind, however, kept going to score an impressive 64 as the UAE scored 134 in the allotted 20 overs.
In reply, Nepal started the game positively. Despite losing opener Kushal Bhurtel early, Aasif Sheikh played the anchor role to take control of the match along with Gulshan Jha. Sheikh finished with 65 while the game was finished with a late burst from Rohit Paudel who scored 35 of 21.
With the win, Nepal qualified for their second T20 World Cup 10 years after they played their first World Cup in 2014.
