Nepal defeats Malaysia by six wickets

KATHMANDU: Nepal kicked off its ACC Premier Cup campaign with a commanding six-wicket victory over Malaysia at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kathmandu on Tuesday.

In the Group A fixture, Malaysia won the toss and elected to bat first. It scored 235 runs, losing nine wickets in the allotted 50 overs. Nepal chased down the target losing four wickets in 36.2 overs.

Malaysia’s innings got off to a shaky start as it lost the first wicket with only 22 runs on the board. However, Captain Ahmed Faiz and opener Virandeep Singh steadied the ship, putting on a partnership of 116 runs for the second wicket. After the fall of the second wicket, Malaysia lost wickets at regular intervals thereafter and ultimately folded at 235 runs.

Sandeep Lamichhane and Sompal Kami were the star performers with the ball for Nepal, taking three wickets each, while Lalit Rajbanshi took two and Gulsan Jha chipped in with one.

Nepal made a disastrous start to its chase, losing opener Aasif Sheikh for just one run in the first over. However, opener Kushal Bhurtel and Bhim Sharki steadied Nepal’s innings with a 48-run partnership for the second wicket. The third-wicket partnership of Sharki and Captain Rohit Poudel then took the game away from Malaysia. While Poudel scored 42 runs from 43 balls, Sharki notched up an impressive 71 runs from 98 deliveries. Kushal Malla added gloss to the chase with a quick-fire 70 off just 40 balls.

Mohammad Wafiq, Rizwan Aider, Viajy Unni, and Virandeep Singh all took one wicket each for Malaysia.

Hong Kong hammers Singapore

In the Group B fixture held at the Mulpani Cricket Ground, Hong Kong registered a comfortable eight-wicket victory against Singapore.

Invited to bat first after losing the toss, Singapore scored 174 runs losing all wickets in 42.1 overs. Captain Aritra Dutta top-scored for Singapore scoring 49 runs from 57 balls. Four Singapore batsmen failed to reach double digits.

Ehsan Khan took four wickets for Hong Kong. While Yasim Murtaza claimed three wickets, Ayush Shukla, Aizaz Khan and Mohammad Ghazanfar chipped in with a wicket each.

Hong Kong lost opener Anshy Rath cheaply in the chase. However, captain Nizakat Khan formed a strong partnership with Baba Hayat to add 132 runs for the second wicket. Hayat scored an unbeaten 108 runs from 94 balls. Hayat scored a fighting 51 from 89 balls.

Ramesh Kalimuthu and Aritra Dutta took one wicket each for Singapore.