Nepal defeats Qatar by eight wickets in series opener

KATHMANDU: Nepal kicked off the four-nation Hong Kong Men’s T20I Series with an eight-wicket victory over Qatar at the Mission Road Ground in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

Batting first, Qatar scored 151 runs for the loss of five wickets. In reply, Nepal chased down the target in 17 overs, losing two wickets.

Qatar made a slow start with the bat as their openers Rifayi Theruvath (6) and Arumugaganesh Nagarajan (13) could add just 26 runs on board. However, Captain Kramullah Khan steadied the winning with a run-a-ball 54. He found support from Shahzaib Jamil (21). Mujeeb-un-Rehma and Mohammed Irshad remained not out at 20 and 18, respectively.

Karan KC, Sompal Kami, Nandan Yadav, Gulsan Jha and Lalit Rajbanshi took a wicket each for Nepal.

Openers Kushal Bhurtel (38 off 19 balls) and Aasif Sheikh (33 off 21 balls) gave Nepal a solid start in the chase with an 81-run stand. After the two fell, Captain Rohit Paudel scored 37 and debutant Basir Ahamad chipped in with 30 as Nepal completed the chase with three overs to spare.

Kushal Bhurtel was adjudged player of the match.

Nepal will play its next match against Kuwait on Thursday.