KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 18
Nepal defeated the United Arab Emirates by six wickets to win the Sixer Cup here at the TU Stadium today.
Nepal came from behind to record a 2-1 victory over the UAE, who came to Kathmandu after playing in the T20 World Cup in Australia, and won their maiden One Day International (ODI) bilateral series on home soil.
Playing their first international series under newly-appointed skipper Rohit Kumar Paudel, Nepal lost the opening match by 84 runs on Monday before levelling the series with a three-wicket victory two days later.
Paudel was named the national team skipper after Sandeep Lamichhane was accused of raping a minor and is currently in custody.
In the deciding match, the UAE posted 176-9 in their allotted 50 overs, thanks to an 83-run partnership for the last wicket between Aryan Afzal Khan and Hazrat Bilal.
The home team, in reply, rode on half centuries from Aasif Sheikh and Gyanendra Malla to race to 180-4 with 59 balls to spare.
Chasing a modest target, Nepal lost opener Arjun Saud (nine) with just 24 runs on the board. Sheikh and Malla then added 122 runs for the second wicket to ease the chase. Malla scored his career best 64 off 73 balls with the help of seven fours and three sixes, bettering his previous best of 56 against Oman.
Skipper Paudel had a miserable series with the bat, scoring one, eight, and 10 runs in three matches.
An unnecessary chaos in the middle saw Nepal losing Paudel and Dipendra Singh Airee in the space of four runs before Sheikh completed the formality. Player-ofthe-match Sheikh, who got two reprieves on five and 10 runs, top scored with 88 off 119 that included 12 hits to the fence. Sheikh completed his third ODI half century off 79 balls. Earlier, Gulsan Jha dismissed opener Mohammed Waseem (11) and skipper Chundangapoyil (four), while Sompal Kami claimed the wicket of Vriitya Aravind (naught) as Nepal reduced the UAE to 16-3 inside four overs.
Rohan Mustafa and Alishan Sarafu added 63 runs for the fourth wicket to revive the innings before the UAE lost six wickets in the space of 14 runs to be 93-9.
Aryan Afzal Khan and Hazrat Bilal frustrated Nepali bowlers and they survived almost 20 overs adding 83 runs for the unbroken last wicket to help their team post a fighting total. Khan top scored for the UAE with 64-ball 54 not out that included seven fours and a six, while Bilal remained unbeaten on 20.
Gulsan Jha, Dipendra Singh Airee, and Kushal Bhurtel grabbed two wickets each, while Kami and Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi bagged one each.
Skipper Paudel lauded team efforts for the series victory. "We could not make desired start but the team made a great comeback in the second and third matches," said Paudel. "The series has boosted the team's morale for upcoming tri-nation series in Namibia," he added.
"The top order fired today and it is a good news for the team." Asked about his poor form, Paudel said the captaincy had nothing to do with his performance. "I was not under any pressure and I am glad that all the team members supported me in the series," he added.
A version of this article appears in the print on November 19, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
