United Arab Emirates (UAE) has given a victory target of 176 runs to Nepal in the semi-final of ICC T20 World Cup Qualifiers.
In the match between Nepal and UAE being played at Al Amerat Cricket Stadium, Nepal was invited to field before losing the toss.
UAE had a great start by scoring 84 runs for the loss of two wickets in the first ten overs.
Muhammad Waseem contributed 70 runs and Vriitya Aravind scored 46 runs for UAE.
Abinash Bohara and Jitendra Mukhiya took three wickets each and captain Sandeep Lamichhane took one wicket for Nepal.
Nepal had the first success in the second over of the game.
Jitendra Mukhiya bowled Chirag Suri and forced him to returned to the pavilion.
Suri faced five balls and managed to add only four runs.
But Aravind, who came to bat at number three after Suri, played an excellent innings by putting pressure on the Nepali bowler.
Playing an excellent innings of 46 off 23 balls with five fours and three sixes, Nepal captain Sandeep Lamichhane trapped him with his googly and forced him to leave the crease.
Lamichhane sent Aravind to the pavilion in the third over of the eighth over to stop UAE from scoring big.
But then the wicketless Nepal was saddened by the aggressive innings of UAE’s Muhammad Waseem.
Waseem completed his half century in the 13th over of Kamal Singh Airee.
Nepal got their third victory in the 17th over.
Muhammad Usman was caught by Abinash Bohara through Gyanendra Malla.
Before returning to the pavilion, Usman had contributed 17 runs off 24 balls.
In the same over, Bohara took the second individual wicket and returned Muhammad Waseem to the pavilion.
Waseem, who scored 70 off 48 balls, was caught by Bohara off the fifth ball of the 17th ball through Aarif Sheikh.
Jitendra Mukhiya gave Nepal its fifth wicket in the 18th over of the game.
In the first ball of the 18th over, Mukhiya caught Basil Hameed through Bivek Yadav and tried to get Nepal back in the right track.
In the last ball of the 18th over, Mukhiya gave Nepal its sixth achievement.
Gyanendra Malla made an excellent catch of Zawar Farid through Mukhiya.
In the fifth ball of the 19th over, Kashif Daud was forced to leave the crease and Nepal got its seventh wicket.
Bohara caught Daud through captain Lamichhane. Before returning to the pavilion, Daud had scored four runs off four balls.
This is the highest run ever scored by any national team against Nepal in the ongoing qualifiers.
Nepal had played against Oman in the first match of the group stage of the qualifiers.
In the first match, Nepal defeated Oman by 78 runs and won by 39 runs.
In the second match, Nepal defeated the Philippines by a huge margin of 136 runs.
Nepal, who beat the Philippines by 82 runs, entered the semifinals by defeating Canada by eight wickets in the final match of the group stage.
Staying at the top of the group, Nepal had defeated Canada by 80 runs in the last match of the group stage.
If Nepal wins today’s match, Nepal will secure its place in the T20 World Cup to be held in Australia this year.
Nepal last participated in the T20 World Cup held in Bangladesh in 2014.
The 2014 World Cup is Nepal’s first and last World Cup participation.
