Kathmandu- The two day match between Nepal and Hong Kong went for a draw, after Nepal settled for 155 for 7 at the end of play on Day at Abu Dhabi Oval 1 Stadium on Friday.
Nepal declared on overnight score of 106 for 1 at the start of the day. Hong Kong then imposed a lead of 313 runs over Nepal, after they scored 203 runs losing seven wickets in their second innings in just 38 overs.
91 runs partnership between Jamie Atkinson and Nizakat Khan in just 12.2 overs for the seventh wicket changed the course of the match. Nizakat Khan, came to bat when Hong Kong were 68 for 6, then shared 91 runs with Jamie at over 7 runs per over. Till then, it looked as if Hong Kong could not cross the 100 digit mark.
Jamie top scored for Hong Kong with 80 runs off 96 balls with six fours and three sixes while Nizakat remained not out on 58 off 47 balls with three fours and equal number of sixes.
Debut boy, Right Arm Medium Pacer, Bikram Sov produced the moment of the match in the fourth over of Hong Kong’s second innings, grabbing three wickets in a single over.
He had Waqas Barkat and Aziaz Khan caught behind by Mahesh Chhetri and Tanwir Afzal lbw in the fourth over. Apart from Bikram, Basant Regmi took three wickets while Karan KC and Irshad Ahmed picked up each wicket.
Chasing 313 runs, Nepal had a shaky start, losing the wickets of Mahesh Chhetri (5 runs off 21 ballas) and Naresh Budhayer (5 runs off 13 balls) with just 17 runs on the board. After that, Nepal never looked like a team playing for a win- instead for a draw as runs dried up.
In form batsman, Anil Madal and Shared Veswakar shared 84 runs for the third wicket at a very slow pace, in 24 overs. Mandal got out for 44 (95 balls) runs and Sharad for 47(74 balls) runs in quick succession, both falling to Hasseb Amjad. Basant Regmi and Bikram Sov consumed lots of dot balls, and the match was called for a draw with eight overs of the day still remaining.
Haseeb Amjad grabbed four wickets for Hong Kong. Nepal plays Pakistan in a 50- over practice match on Sunday (November 8).
Match Summary
Hong Kong- 215/4d and 203/7d
Nepal- 106/1d and 155/7
