ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES v NEPAL The United Arab Emirates were the more experienced of the two teams and, not unexpectedly, were on top throughout the match but, to Nepal’s credit, they were unable to turn their superiority into victory. With the match undecided after three days, both sides demonstrated their ability to adjust from one-day limited-overs cricket to the longer form of the game. On a pitch which generally favoured batsmen but gave some encouragement to pace bowling, Nepal’s captain must have thought he made the right decision in choosing to field when the Emirates lost their first two wickets for 27 runs. However, recovery came through Arshad Ali who scored a century on his first-class debut. He added 73 runs for the third wicket with Naeemuddin Aslam and was then involved in a 133-run partnership with Khurram Khan. Together, Arshad Ali and Khurram Khan scored 74% of their team’s total and were the only players to dominate the bowling. Khurram Khan, in particular, was devastating with a strike-rate of 96.1 whilst Arshad Ali was more sedate with a strike rate of 66.2. Even so, 53% of Arshad Ali’s runs came in boundaries. Otherwise, the initiative rested with the fast-medium bowling combination of Mehaboob Alam (left-arm) and Binod Das (right-arm). Sensing the need to progress the match, Khurram Khan declared with slightly under an hour remaining on the first day, leaving a session of 20 overs in which Nepal’s batting proved disappointingly fragile, losing three wickets to the pace of Ali Asad. On the second day, Nepal had no answer to Ali Asad who produced a superb disply of pace bowling. The only resistance came from Raju Khadka and Manoj Katuwal in a sixth-wicket partnership of 59 made whilst Ali Asad was being rested. On his return, the remaining wickets fell quickly to give the Emirates a first-innings lead of 80 runs. Ali Asad’s nine wickets for 74 was the ninth-best performance on a first-class debut. Had not his colleagues dropped two catches off his bowling, he might have had all ten. As it was, on average, he took a wicket every 18 balls he bowled. The Emirates tried to build on their position but struggled in their second innings against all of Nepal’s bowlers with Raju Khadka taking two of the five wickets to fall before the close. A promising stand between Asim Saeed and Naeemuddin Aslam ended when Naeemuddin was unnecessarily run out. Then Asim Saeed fell to Das to leave the Emirates on 140 for five. With a lead of 220 runs at the start of the last day, the Emirates finally gained the advantage through Fahad Usman who thoroughly deserved his century. With a strike rate of 62.5 and only 47% of his runs in boundaries, he paced his innings well and was provided with good support by Mohammad Tauqir in a sixth-wicket stand of 89. By delaying the declaration until Fahad Usman had reached his hundred, Khurram Khan reduced the chances of bowling out Nepal for a second time. Set a target of 334 runs in a minimum of 69 overs, Nepal played for the draw through sound defensive work from Paras Lohani and Sarad Vesawkar, with strike rates of only 34.0 and 29.0 runs respectively. Another fine piece of bowling by Ali Asad gave him a match return of 13 wickets for 126 and the Man-of-the-Match award. 16 ICC Intercontinental Cup 2004