A cliff-hanger of a contest in the Finale, which is worthy of a Final match, took place between UAE and Nepal, with UAE scraping past the finish line by only 7 runs to be crowed ICC WCL Division 2 Champions on 15th Feb, 2018 in Namibia.
Dual centuries from Ashfaq Ahmed (114 off 123) and Paras Khadka (112 n.o off 103) lit up the final match but Khadka was left ruing missed opportunity to lift the title as Nepal came agonisingly close to UAE’s total of 277/4 by finishing up at 270/8.
UAE got the best of starts from the openers as they added 109 runs for the opening wicket before Rohan Mustafa fell in the 25th over, after making 51 runs. Ashfaq further managed to form two more partnerships, a 54-runs partnership with Ghulam Shabber for the 2nd wicket and then 48-runs for the 3rd with Rameez Shahzad. Ashfaq got to his century in the 38th over before falling to Sandeep Lamichhane for a well compiled 114 off 123 deliveries.
Shaiman Anwar took over the proceedings in the final over as he hammered 40 off only 24 deliveries to take UAE to their eventual total off 277 in their 50 overs.
Sandeep Lamichhane was the most economical bowler on show for Nepal as he only gave away 39 runs in his spell of 10 overs with picking up the wicket of Ashfaq.
Nepal’s entire innings rallied around Khadka’s knock but he will be disappointed for the fact that the other senior statesmen, Gyanendra Malla (24 off 25) and Sharad Vesawkar (30 off 37) could not convert their starts to give him more support during the chase. Dipendra Singh Airee also managed to get amongst the runs but faced a lot of dot balls in his knock of 35 from 66 deliveries.
The asking rate was always on the high and with wickets falling at crucial junctures during the middle and late overs, it was all left for Paras, who hit 8 maximums during his whirlwind innings to reach a magnificent List-A century. Amir Hayat was the most successful bowler for UAE, picking up 4/53 and Imran Haider picking up 2/44 with his leg-spin.
Sandeep Lamichhane was adjudged the Man of the Series for his 17 wickets @3.23 runs per over with 5/20 being his best figures during the tournament. He was the joint highest wicket taker along with Oman’s Bilal Khan, who also picked up 17 wickets @3.53 runs per over with 5/33 being his best.
Canada beat Namibia in the 3rd/4th play-off and now await ICC’s decision on the WCL Championship format going forward as changes are expected on the same.
Oman recorded back-to-back victories over Kenya to finish 5th in the tournament; however, both Oman and Kenya will be relegated to WCL Division 3.
