Kathmandu, August 24 :

Nepal’s hope of making to the World Cup Qualifying Series Division II blew out after sustaining a crushing nine-wicket defeat by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the semi-final of the ACC Trophy in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

Nepal was bowled out for 103 runs and the UAE chased the total in 37 runs. Sarad Vesawkar top scored with 26 runs while Gyanendra Malla, who scored three half centuries in the tournament fell for eight runs. Besides Vesawkar, Paras Khadka (23) and Shakti Gauchan (14) were the only batsmen to reach the double figure. A Ali scored unbeaten 75 while Saqib Ali scored 23 for UAE. Mohd Iqbal (2) was the only man out.