The 17 year-old Gulshan Jha struck a measured, unbeaten 67 for hosts Nepal to see the home side to a seven wicket win over the UAE on the reserve day of a rain-interrupted ACC Premier Cup final at Kathmandu. The victory sees Nepal secure the sole qualifying berth for this years’ Asia Cup, currently scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan in September
ontinuing the match from where the downpour had seen play suspended yesterday with the UAE at 106-9, Lalit Rajbanshi finished his phenomenal work from yesterday by taking the last imperative wicket to wrap up with figures of 4-14 and see the UAE all out for only 117. Nepal stammered right off the bat in the pursuit, losing the two openers Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheik and chief Rohit Paudel economically. Yet, the advancement of passed on gave all-rounder Jha to number three demonstrated a clever move for the hosts, and with help from Bhim Sharki the youngster steadied the innings and afterward countered, the pair’s solid 96-run fourth wicket organization seeing Nepal home in 30.3 overs, a long time before the downpour returned.
The determination of a play-through hold day implied the match was gone on from yesterday as opposed to played once again, meaning the UAE started the day with last wicket pair Junaid Siddique and Karthik Meiyappan in the center, and Rajbanshi began a full go-around. Siddique endure the full go-around ball first up in spite of a speculative confusing allure, however didn’t treat his game to the conditions, hitting Rajbanshi for a transcending straight six in the fifth over of the day preceding holing out to Bhurtel at long on in Rajbanshi’s close to end the innings.
Recently new-ball pair Sompal Kami and Karan KC had taken out the UAE top three very soon, and the home spinners had based on their great work. Rajbanshi and Sandeep Lamichhane made the most of a wicket that was beginning to offer turn, too Emirati batsmen on occasion excessively ready to propose their wickets. Just number six Asif Khan offered serious obstruction, striking a 54-ball 46 preceding tumbling to Rajbanshi on the penultimate ball before the downpour came.
The weather conditions took steps to return again today, and the two sides searched in the hold of outrageous criticalness as Nepal started their pursuit. With the pitch progressively offering turn the UAE started with turn at the two closures, Aayaan Khan and Rohan Mustafa both surging back to their imprints each ball knowing that in the event that 20 overs weren’t bowled before the downpour Nepal would advance naturally. The players’ evident rush was less logical notwithstanding, Bhurtel clearing from the off and neglecting to associate over and over, at last stuck in front by Mustafa with the eighth conveyance of the innings, before Aasif Sheik moreover missed a range and was struck on the cushion by left arm spinner Aayan Khan, drawing the umpire’s finger.
Khan beat Paudel’s external edge with the following three balls, and maybe hoping to focus on the off-spinner at the opposite end the Nepal captain likewise lost his wicket unnecessarily. Stepping back to cut Mustafa and slashing on in the following overs, the home captain walked out on him in something of a state at 3-22. The move of advancing the left-given Jha up the request to counter Ayaan was a sound one notwithstanding, and pretty much every deviant ball was taken care of.
The left handers’ presence additionally appeared to stop UAE commander Waseem from going to his legspinner, and when he at last faced the challenge to welcome on Karthik Meiyyapan, it didn’t pay off for the travelers. Jha got after the legspinner taking him for 16 runs in the eighteenth and really taking care of the game. Jha would see off Mustafa, who got done with figures of 2-13 from his ten, preceding going to fifty with an uncommon misleading shot inside edging Basil Hameed across his stumps in the 28th.
From that point he and Sharki burned through brief period in bringing Nepal back home notwithstanding, completing the match in style only three overs later. Jha attached the scores with a roaring hurled roll over mid-off for six of Aayan Khan, then, at that point, cleared the following round the corner, calling Sharki through for a rushed single and a seven wicket win.
The triumph procures Nepal a spot at what might be their most memorable Asia Cup, drawn close by Pakistan and India as the gatherings as of now stand. The UAE should satisfy themselves with a compartment at the ACC Arising Groups Cup, for which they qualify alongside Nepal and third-set Oman.
