ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

NEPAL v UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Rain again caused frustration to the players, officials and spectators on the first day after Binod Das elected to bat on winning the toss against a somewhat weakened Emirates side, lacking Khurram Khan, Syed Maqsood and Asad Ali. Nevertheless, the Emirates’ pace bowlers were impressive in their opening spell and obtained two wickets with only 19 runs scored. Kanishka Chaugai and Shakti Gauchan put on 65 careful runs before Chaugai mis-hit a ball from Rizwan Latif and was caught by the bowler. The most attractive batting of the match then followed as Gauchan and Sharad Vesawkar added 106 runs despite interruptions for rain. Gauchan was the more patient of the two with a strike rate of only 34.6. After his dismissal, Mehaboob Alam played very aggressively, hitting six fours in an innings of 34 from 34 balls before falling leg-before to Zahid Shah in the last over of the day. Nepal added 41 runs on the second morning for the loss of two wickets. As soon as Vesawkar’s innings came to an end for 89, Das declared. The Emirates gave a miserable display in reply, Apart from Arshad Ali, who carried his bat for 81 runs in a resolute performance with a strike rate of 32.4, none was able to survive for long and also score runs. On a pitch which on the first day and in the previous match against Hong Kong had aided pace bowling, the Emirates’ middle and lower order collapsed to leg spin, Nepal having three purveyors of the art in Raju Basnet, Gauchan and Raj Pradhan. Compared to the display from Vesawkar and Alam the day before, the Emirates batting was tedious, a strike rate of 33.6 for the innings and 25% of the overs bowled being maidens. Ahmed Nadeem gave the Emirates some hope by getting two wickets before the close but Chaugai and Gauchan looked secure and Nepal had a lead of 168 runs going into the final day. Nepal were after quick runs on the last morning but against tight bowling found life difficult. Rizwan Latif (slow left arm) was the chief beneficiary of misjudged shots in an attempt to increase the scoring rate, picking up three caught-and-bowled victims to add to the one he obtained in the first innings. The home side batted for 26 more overs whilst adding only 80 runs before Das felt confident enough to declare, setting the Emirates 249 runs to get to win. Again, the Emirates’ batting was woeful. Only Arshad Ali and a defiant Ahmed Nadeem reached double figures as Das, well supported by his other bowlers, took five wickets for only 27 runs from 16 overs. The innings lasted only 35 overs as the Emirates succumbed to what was then the lowest team score in the competition. Binod Das became the Man of the Match for the second time in succession. Despite their convincing win, Nepal finished 0.5 points behind the United Arab Emirates in the Asia Group and did not, therefore, qualify for the semi-finals. With their match against Hong Kong so severely affected by rain, they had no opportunity to gain the fourteen points awarded for a win and did not have sufficient time to pick-up enough bonus points. Nepal were unlucky not to progress. Ironically, one year later, they won the Asian Premier League after the United Arab Emirates had their game with Singapore abandoned without a ball being bowled. 56 ICC Intercontinental Cup 2005