Dubai: Nepal had the last laugh against the UAE in both One-day as well as Twenty20 series to complete a ‘double’ at the ICC Academy on Sunday.
UAE, which began with a victory in the first one-dayer, lost the next two matches of the series.
They started with a win in the first T20 match too but bowed to Nepal in the next two matches.
Nepal won their third and last match of the T20 series to record a 2-1 series win. The UAE had won the first match of the T20 series by 21 runs but the next two matches were won by Nepal through their pacer Sompal Kami, who was outstanding and their Indian Premier League (IPL) player and leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane.
UAE’s newcomer and all-rounder C.P. Rizwan, who opened the batting, waged a lone battle through a run-a-ball knock of 44 runs with four boundaries and one six in the second T20 match.
In the final T20 match, Nepal were restricted to 108 for eight in a rain-affected match.
Chasing the score, UAE could muster only 90 for eight in the 10 overs despite Shaiman Anwar’s 30 with two boundaries and two sixes.
Nepal pacer KC Karan was named players of the third T20 decider for his double strike in the eighth over that took the match away from the UAE.
Nepal’s another youngster and 21 year-old Abinash Bohara was named the Man of the series for topping the bowling tally with six wickets. In the second T20 match, Bohara had taken three wickets.
Earlier, Nepal had won the three-match series by staging a comeback through their captain Paras Khadka who led from the front.
In the third and deciding One-dayer, he became Nepal’s maiden ODI centurion when he scored 115 runs and led his team to a memorable four-wicket victory.
UAE had played the series without their regular captain Rohan Mustafa and spinner Ahmad Raza and middle-order batsman Rameez Shahzad, who had been suspended from international cricket for a period of eight weeks by Emirates Cricket Board due to comments they made on social media against hosts Pakistan during the Emerging Teams Asia Cup.
