Nepal Suffers Fourth Consecutive Defeat, Falls to UAE in Final League 2 Match
Kathmandu, November 5. Nepal concluded its ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 campaign with a fourth straight defeat, losing to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by four wickets in the final match of the series held at the ICC Academy Ground in Dubai on Wednesday.
After losing the toss, Nepal were sent in to bat first and managed to post 239 runs for the loss of nine wickets in the allotted 50 overs. In reply, the UAE successfully chased down the target, reaching 243 runs in 49.5 overs with four wickets in hand.
For the hosts, Muhammad Shahzad and Muhammad Waseem starred with the bat. Shahzad narrowly missed his century, scoring 96 runs off 123 balls, including six boundaries and three sixes. Waseem contributed 76 runs, while Sohaib Khan added 29, captain Alishan Sharafu made 18, and Harshit Kaushik scored 13 runs.
On the bowling front, Karan KC led Nepal’s attack with three wickets, while Nandan Yadav, Lalit Rajbanshi, and Sandeep Lamichhane picked up one wicket each.
Earlier, Nepal’s innings was anchored by Bhim Sharki, who top-scored with 48 runs. Kushal Malla added 45, vice-captain Dipendra Singh Airee made 37, opener Aasif Sheikh scored 34, Aarif Sheikh contributed 30, and Sandeep Lamichhane chipped in with 15 runs.
For the UAE, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, and Muhammad Jawadullah claimed two wickets each, while Zahid Ali took one.
With this defeat, Nepal remained in seventh position on the League 2 table with 12 points from 20 matches, while UAE ended at the bottom with 10 points from the same number of games.
At the top, the United States lead the standings with 36 points from 24 matches, followed by Scotland (30 points) and the Netherlands (28 points).
A total of eight teams are competing in the League 2, with each nation set to play nine tri-series comprising 36 matches. The top four teams from the competition will directly qualify for the 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup.
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