SATV Kathmandu Oct 31: Rohit Kumar Paudel became the first Nepali cricketer to score two centuries in One Day Internationals after smashing 109 runs against the United Arab Emirates in the ICC World Cup League 2 match in Dubai on Thursday.

Paudel’s century guided Nepal, who elected to bat first, to a total of 233 runs in 50 overs at the ICC Academy in Dubai. It was his first century as the captain.

Paudel is also the leading run scorer for Nepal in ODIs, closing in on the 2,000-run mark. In 70 innings of the 74 matches he has played for the country, Paudel has 1,962 runs.

He had twice fallen short of a century in the past—remaining unbeaten on 95 against Scotland in Kirtipur in 2022, and getting dismissed for 96 against the United States in Dallas last year.

On Friday, Aasif Sheikh (35 off 48), Aarif Sheikh (27 off 42), Dipendra Singh Airee (23 off 28) and Karan KC (13 off 8) were other batters to score in double digits for the Rhinos, who were bundled out as Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi got caught out for a golden duck in the final ball of the first inning bowled by Zahid Ali.

Ali bagged four wickets in total in his six-over spell for the UAE, while Junaid Siddique picked three in 10 overs. Muhammad Rohid and Haider Ali also took one each. Airee was run out and Sompal Kami (6 off 13) returned after hit wicket.

Nepal did not have a good spell with the ball as the UAE, the bottom-most team in the points table of League 2, registered their fifth win in 18 matches.

By the time Nepal got the first relief as Alishan Sharafu was caught out by Paudel in the spell of KC, the UAE were at 63 runs in 8.2 overs. Sharaful fell short of five runs for his 50.

On the other hand, Aryansh Sharma, Sharafu’s opening partner, played his best knock in ODIs against Nepal. He fell short of two runs for his maiden ODI century as he was caught and bowled by Sandeep Lamichhane as the team’s fourth wicket in the 35th over; but by then, the UAE were already at 195 runs.

Sharma was adjudged the Player of the Match for his anchoring knock.

Dhrub Parashar (16 off 19) and Ali (11 off 19) stayed not out to complete the chase with 39 balls and five wickets in hand.

After the win, the UAE got two crucial points. But they are still four points away from seventh-placed Nepal, who have 12 points from 18 games.

Nepal are facing the USA on November 1 in the second encounter of the double round-robin tri-series. Nepal had lost the first game against the USA by 106 runs on October 26.