KATHMANDU, Feb 1: Vice-captain Gyanendra Malla’s century and young leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane’s four-wicket haul helped Nepal national cricket team secure its second consecutive wins of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) tour on Wednesday.
Nepal, who is preparing for the World Cricket League Division Two to be held in Namibia from February 8, defeated UAE ‘A’ by 193 runs on Wednesday. Nepal had already beaten the same team by 25 runs on Tuesday.
The openers Malla and Dilip Nath produced a good start for Nepal with a partnership of 142 runs for the first wicket and gave a target of 333 runs at the loss of five wickets in the allotted 50 overs.
Gajalu releasing on Friday
Nath scored 64 runs off 69 balls which included two sixes and six fours, while Malla hit 154 runs off 131 balls including 17 boundaries. Malla partnered with Anil Kumar Sah (34 runs) for the second wicket and Dipendra Singh Airee (64 runs) for the third wicket. Likewise, he made 82-run partnership with Aarif Sheikh for the fourth wicket before going back to the pavilion.
Sheikh hit 41 runs off 33 balls with two fours, while Shah added 34 runs off 34 balls including three boundaries. Similarly, Sah contributed 14 runs off 18 balls including a four.
In reply, UAE lost all its wickets in the 40.2 overs making just 140 runs.
Lamichhane, who was bought by the Indian Premier League (IPL) outfit Delhi Daredevils this week, bowled brilliantly for Nepal claiming four wickets. Lamichhane was included in the IPL auction and was bought by Daredevils at the base price of Rs 2 million.
Supporting Lamichhane’s bowling, Khadka bagged two wickets in the match. He had taken five wickets on Tuesday. Likewise, Sompal Kami and Shakti Gauchan took a wicket each for the winning team.
