Nepal completed the target of 135 runs given by UAE in 17.1 overs with the loss of 2 wickets. Asif Sheikh scored a half-century in Nepal’s victory. Asif scored 63 not out. He hit 6 fours and 2 sixes in 50 balls. Rohit Paudel scored 35 not out in 20 balls.

Opener Kushal Bhurtel was dismissed after scoring 11 runs. He was caught by Mohammad Wasim off Nilans Keswani in the last ball of the third over. Kushal hit 2 fours before getting out.

Gulsan Jha was bowled by Basil Hameed for 22 runs in the tenth over. He hit 3 fours off 24 balls before being dismissed.

Before that, UAE, who won the toss on Friday morning and batted first, added 134 runs for the loss of 9 wickets. Vritya Arivand scored a half-century for UAE. He scored 64 runs off 51 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes before being caught out by Kushal Malla on the first ball of the last over.

Nepal took two wickets in the fourth over against UAE who started aggressively. On the first ball of the fourth over, Sompal Kami has run out UAE opening batsman Khalid Shah for 3 runs. Sompal dismissed Mohammad Wasim for 26 off Karan KC in the fourth ball of the same over. Wasim hit 3 fours and 2 sixes off 16 balls.

Sandeep Lamichhane took the third wicket for Nepal. Sandeep was bowled lbw to Asif Khan in the tenth over for 13 runs. Kushal Malla took the fourth wicket for Nepal in the 14th over. He dismissed Alishan Sarafu for 16 runs off Sompal Kami.

Captain Rohit Paudel took the fifth wicket for Nepal. He had Ali Naseer of UAE caught by Kushal Bhurtel for 4 runs. At that time, UAE scored 100 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in 15.5 overs.

Sandeep took the maiden wicket in the 18th over. After dismissing Basil Hameed for 1 run in that over, he did not give any runs in five balls. In bowling, Kushal Malla of Nepal took 3 wickets. He took 2 wickets in the last over. Kushal spent 11 runs in 3 overs. Sandeep Lamichhane took 2 wickets. Sandeep kept 1 maiden in 4 overs and cost only 14 runs. Sandeep bowled 14 dot balls.

Nepal in the World Cup for the second time in 10 years

Nepal played the 2012 World Qualifier in UAE. At that time, Nepal was the seventh.

Nepal played the best in the 2013 World Qualifiers. Where Nepal reached the T20 World Cup in 2014 by finishing third. Along with that, Nepal made history by playing T20 World Cup 2014 in Bangladesh. After playing the World Cup, the height of Nepali cricket is increasing.

In the 2015 World Qualifiers, Nepal’s performance was not good. In the tournament in Ireland and Scotland, they were eliminated at the bottom of the group.

Asia qualifiers for the 2021 World Cup in the UAE were held in Singapore in 2019. Where Nepal lost the opportunity to play the World Qualifier after 2012 due to poor performance.

Nepal did not succeed in qualifying for the World Cup held in Australia in 2022. Two years ago, in the qualifiers held in Oman, Nepal won easily in the group stage and made it to the semi-finals. But after winning the semi-final, Nepal failed to qualify for the World Cup.

The dream of playing in the World Cup after 8 years was shattered when Nepal lost to UAE by 68 runs in the semi-final in Oman in February 2078.

Nepal initially finished in the top two in the four-team group this time to qualify for the 2024 World Cup. Nepal qualified for the World Cup after defeating UAE in the semi-final at home. With this, Nepal is about to play the World Cup for the second time in 10 years.