Host Nepal has been saying that the current tournament is the best opportunity to grab title success in the shorter version of the game while the UAE hopes to avenge its defeat to Nepal in the last edition of the tournament.[break]
Although Nepal had lost to the UAE by four wickets in the group stage of the last edition of the ACC T20 Cup held in Kathmandu in 2011, the host had qualified to the semifinals at the expense of the UAE on the basis of superior net run rate after both teams finished the group stage on equal points.
Nepal had been a perennial loser to the UAE in the ACC Trophy Elite until the last edition, when Nepal had defeated the UAE by four wickets in the group-stage and shared the trophy in the final.
Tuesday´s match at the TU Cricket Ground could be a chance for the Nepali team to prove its progressive credentials of late.
"We have been going through a good time recently as we won the Division 4 (World Cricket League) and the ACC Trophy Elite. Everyone is pumped up and everybody is contributing for the team," said Nepali Captain Paras Khada after his team cruised to the semifinal beating Singapore in the last group stage match on Sunday.
Nepal, which had crashed out from group stage in the first two editions of the ACC T20 Cup, is playing the second semifinal in a row on Tuesday and wants to go a step ahead this time.
"This is the best chance for us to win the tournament in a T20 format. I´m really looking forward to that. There is a lot of confidence in the team," said Nepal’s coach Pubudu Dassanayake.
The UAE has rested some of its key players for the ACC T20 Cup as it is more focused on the World T20 Qualifiers which the Gulf nation will host in November. Former Pakistani pace bowler Aaqib Javed has been looking after the UAE team as its coach.
"The UAE has been doing good under Aaqib Javed. However, we had defeated his full-strength side in the ACC Trophy Elite," said Dassanayake. "Meantime, we are aware that there are some good hitters in the second-string side of UAE in this tournament," he added.
Nepal defeated the Maldives, Malaysia and Singapore in the group stage but lost to Hong Kong. On the other hand the UAE is undefeated in the tournament, stunning mighty Afghanistan in the group stage.
"We have already qualified for the World T20 Qualifiers and this is an opportunity for us to do better. We also don´t have other option than winning the semifinal," said skipper Khadka. "I hope we´ll get good crowd support in the upcoming matches," he added.
Nepal’s team will be decided only on Tuesday morning since injured off-spinner Sanjam Regmi will go through final fitness test only in the morning. "We are mulling about including Sanjam (Regmi). There are some left-handed batsmen in the UAE team and if he gets fit, he could be included in the team. However, we´ll decide everything after reading the pitch on Tuesday morning," said Dassanayake.
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