78/4 (8.5)
CRR : 8.83
122/8 (18.5)
CRR : 6.48
United Arab Emirates won by 6 wickets (DLS METHOD) 🏆
Player of the Match
Player
3/29
8.5
6
K Malla to A Nath
SMACKED FOR SIX! Akshdeep Nath finishes with flamboyance. The visitors glitter under lights. Length ball outside off. Like the batter had on a couple of occasions before this, he crouched to get under the ball and then hammered it over extra cover. UAE win the match by 6 wickets and take an unassailable lead of 1-0 in this two match series.
Over 9
United Arab Emirates 78/4
Akshdeep Nath17(8)
Sohaib Khan1(1)
Kushal Malla1-15(0.5)
UAE won by 6 wickets (DLS METHOD)
08:31 PM IST, 08:46 PM Local Time: What a way from Akshdeep Nath to mark his International debut as he helps UAE seal a somewhat nervy six-wicket win. Sandeep Lamichhane shook up the UAE top-order but Alishan Sharafu and especially Akshdeep Nath played maturely to take UAE over the line.
Chasing 78 for victory, UAE got off to a rollicking start as their skipper Muhammad Waseem scoring 20 runs off the first over bowled by Hemant Dhami. Waseem even took on Lamichhane for a maximum but the leg-spinner got his man off the very next delivery. Two balls later, Lamichhane also got rid of Adeeb Usmani.
In his next over, Lamichhane added one more scalp with another debutant Harpreet Bhatia holing out to the man at deep cover. Then, Sharafu and Nath came together to stitch a mini stand to ease some of the pressure. There could have been one more twist if Dipendra Singh Airee hung onto a tricky catch at long-off but he parried it over for a maximum instead. Alishan Sharafu still got out with victory in sight but Nath came up with a cracking maximum off the penultimate delivery of the ninth over to seal the match.
Earlier in the match, Nepal showed early intent through the opening duo of Kushal Bhurtel and Arjun Saud. However, Junaid Siddique castled Saud in the third over before Haider Ali got the better of Sundeep Jora in the next over as well. But the biggest blow came in the final over of the Powerplay when Kushal Bhurtel was run-out.
Post the Powerplay, the runs completely dried up and Muhammad Zuhaib capitalized on it by dismissing Kushal Malla in the 11th over. Runs continued to come very slowly with both Dipendra Singh Airee and Bashir Ahmad unable to find the fence. Zubair had Bashir caught in the deep for his second wicket while Siddique got a somewhat fortuitous LBW to send back Gulshan Jha. Nandan Yadav gave some hope with a couple of maximums but Zubair came back well to take his third wicket. The likes of Sher Malla and Sandeep Lamichhane didn't help Nepal as they failed to give the strike to Airee on a regular basis. With 7 balls left in the innings, the heavens opened up bringing an end to the Nepal innings while the DLS score ended up producing a target of 78 from 10 overs for UAE.
Chasing 78 for victory, UAE got off to a rollicking start as their skipper Muhammad Waseem scoring 20 runs off the first over bowled by Hemant Dhami. Waseem even took on Lamichhane for a maximum but the leg-spinner got his man off the very next delivery. Two balls later, Lamichhane also got rid of Adeeb Usmani.
In his next over, Lamichhane added one more scalp with another debutant Harpreet Bhatia holing out to the man at deep cover. Then, Sharafu and Nath came together to stitch a mini stand to ease some of the pressure. There could have been one more twist if Dipendra Singh Airee hung onto a tricky catch at long-off but he parried it over for a maximum instead. Alishan Sharafu still got out with victory in sight but Nath came up with a cracking maximum off the penultimate delivery of the ninth over to seal the match.
Earlier in the match, Nepal showed early intent through the opening duo of Kushal Bhurtel and Arjun Saud. However, Junaid Siddique castled Saud in the third over before Haider Ali got the better of Sundeep Jora in the next over as well. But the biggest blow came in the final over of the Powerplay when Kushal Bhurtel was run-out.
Post the Powerplay, the runs completely dried up and Muhammad Zuhaib capitalized on it by dismissing Kushal Malla in the 11th over. Runs continued to come very slowly with both Dipendra Singh Airee and Bashir Ahmad unable to find the fence. Zubair had Bashir caught in the deep for his second wicket while Siddique got a somewhat fortuitous LBW to send back Gulshan Jha. Nandan Yadav gave some hope with a couple of maximums but Zubair came back well to take his third wicket. The likes of Sher Malla and Sandeep Lamichhane didn't help Nepal as they failed to give the strike to Airee on a regular basis. With 7 balls left in the innings, the heavens opened up bringing an end to the Nepal innings while the DLS score ended up producing a target of 78 from 10 overs for UAE.
Dipendra Singh Airee (Nepal Captain): "We should have batted better. It is a young team though. We wanted to bat first and make use of the good conditions first up.
(About the Nepal batters not being able to find boundaries) The pitch was keeping low, so it was a bit difficult. Next match, I will look to do better.
(On Sandeep Lamichhane's spell) He is our main bowler, wicket-taker.
(Message to the fans) Thanks to our fans for staying on despite the rain. Played for the first time under lights."
(About the Nepal batters not being able to find boundaries) The pitch was keeping low, so it was a bit difficult. Next match, I will look to do better.
(On Sandeep Lamichhane's spell) He is our main bowler, wicket-taker.
(Message to the fans) Thanks to our fans for staying on despite the rain. Played for the first time under lights."
Muhammad Waseem (UAE Captain): "We got a good start as a bowling side and then the rain came, so we enjoyed the game.
(About Nepal's decision at the toss) We were surprised as we were looking to bowl first. Credit to my bowlers.
(On Nepal having the edge over UAE recently) It is part of the game.
(Experience of playing in Nepal) We always enjoying playing here in Nepal.
(Regarding UAE's 4 debutants) Right now, my team is looking very good in terms of shape and confidence. Yeah to be honest, they are performing in the domestic circuit over the last two years. So, I am very happy they came here and performed.
(Thoughts for the 2nd game) You know Nepal is a very good team but we want to go hard and make it 2-0.
(About Nepal's decision at the toss) We were surprised as we were looking to bowl first. Credit to my bowlers.
(On Nepal having the edge over UAE recently) It is part of the game.
(Experience of playing in Nepal) We always enjoying playing here in Nepal.
(Regarding UAE's 4 debutants) Right now, my team is looking very good in terms of shape and confidence. Yeah to be honest, they are performing in the domestic circuit over the last two years. So, I am very happy they came here and performed.
(Thoughts for the 2nd game) You know Nepal is a very good team but we want to go hard and make it 2-0.
POTM: Muhammad Zuhaib Zubair
Muhammad Zuhaib Zubair (Player of the Match): "Yeah, first of all thanks to Allah. I am very happy.
(About playing in Nepal) It is very good experience here, nice weather. We like playing here. We are very happy to win this match. Today, I mostly bowled googlies.
(About playing in Nepal) It is very good experience here, nice weather. We like playing here. We are very happy to win this match. Today, I mostly bowled googlies.
So, that is it from myself, Karthik Raj and my co-commentator, Darpan Tikiya as we wrap up the coverage of this match. A note of thanks to our scorer, Ghanendra as well. Do switch over to the IPL fixture between MI and GT. Until next time, it is a warm good-bye from us.
Sohaib Khan
27 yrs
Best68
Innings6
Runs146
SR135.19
Avg24.33