Unprecedented scenes were witnessed in Kirtipur on Thursday as a massive crowd turned up at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 match between hosts Nepal and United Arab Emirates.
Nepal beat the UAE on DLS as the match was stopped due to bad light at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur.
Incredible scenes followed the result as the packed stadium cheered for the home team as they registered victory by 9 runs via DLS.
UAE posted a huge total of 310 for 6 in 50 overs thanks to outstanding knocks from Asif Khan, Vriitya Aravind and captain Muhammad Waseem.
Asif top-scored with 101 not out while Aravind and Waseem contributed with 94 and 63 runs respectively.
But their efforts went in vain as Nepal reached 269 for 6 in 44 overs before bad light stopped play.
The light kept fading and Nepal were eventually declared the winners as they were ahead of the required target by 9 runs and took all two points to pip Namibia (39 points) by a solitary point.
Incredible fightback from Nepal
Nepal got off to a poor start, losing 2 wickets for 6 runs inside two overs and it kept getting worse got them as they collapsed to 98 for 4 before the chase was rescued by Bhim Sharki and Aarif Sheikh, with both scoring a fifty to keep the team in the hunt.
Sharki made 67 while Sheikh scored 52 before Gulsan Jha's unbeaten 50 took the team to safety in deteriorating light.
The crowd started dancing and cheering for the home team as they were declared the winners and Nepal booked their berth for the 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe.
They will now compete with 10 sides for a place in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023.
