Nepal Triumphs Over Qatar in Opening Match of Quadrangular Series

Kathmandu, April 10 - On Wednesday, both Nepal’s senior and under-19 men's cricket squads emerged as winners in their matches. The senior team secured victory over Qatar in the ongoing four-team tournament held in Hong Kong, whereas the younger squad triumphed against Afghanistan in the last match of a three-game one-day competition staged in Mulpani, Kathmandu.

After being away from international competition for five months, the national team began their campaign strongly. Nepal successfully chased down Qatar’s target of 152 runs with eight wickets remaining and 18 balls left.

Out of the six bowlers utilized by captain Rohit Kumar Paudel, only Dipendra Singh Airee failed to claim a wicket. In his maiden international T20I appearance for Nepal, Nandan Yadav secured one along with Karan KC, Sompal Kami, Gulshan Kumar Jha, and Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi.

In the initial power play, Qatar saw the loss of their first two wickets. However, their captain, Ikramullah Khan, along with Shahzaib Jamil, managed to stabilize the innings at the third-wicket partnership. Starting from 26/2 in 4.5 overs, they propelled the score up to 73/3 within 11 overs. Jamil scored 31 runs off 21 balls before being dismissed as the third wicket, whereas Khan continued his innings until he surpassed the 50-mark.

Qatar had a strong defense going into this match. However, an impressive beginning from Nepal’s opening batsmen simplified their pursuit of victory. The partnership ended when Kushal Bhurtel was dismissed by Mujeeb-ur-Rehman with only 5.4 overs played, putting Nepal at 81 runs at that point.

Bhurtel scored 38 runs from 19 balls (including 4 boundaries and 3 sixes), while Aasif Sheikh, dismissed as the second wicket after 7.6 overs, made 33 runs from 21 deliveries (with 4 sixes). Sheikh was caught by Rehman. Additionally, Paudel remained unbeaten with 37 runs from 29 balls, and Basir Ahmad supported him with an undefeated 30 runs from 33 balls, guiding their team to victory.

On April 10, Nepal will play against Kuwait, followed by a match against Hong Kong on April 12. In their second game on Wednesday, Kuwait emerged victorious over Hong Kong by four wickets.

Preventing clean sweep

The young players from Nepal might have felt stressed if they had lost to Afghanistan in the decisive third ODI match on Wednesday. However, they managed to secure a comforting victory, preventing Afghanistan from achieving a complete sweep of the series on Nepalese soil.

In each match, Nepal demonstrated progress. They suffered their initial loss in the series by 130 runs on April 3rd. Then came their closer contest against Afghanistan when they were defeated by just a single run on April 6th. However, on Wednesday, Nepal’s rising talents managed to flip the script.

After winning the coin toss, Afghanistan elected for Nepal to bat first. Despite having their top five batsmen take them up to 172/5 off 34.4 overs, the remaining batters could only manage an additional 19 runs before being all out. Hafeez Zadran was instrumental with the ball for Afghanistan, claiming four wickets which helped dismiss Nepal for 191 in 44.5 overs.

In the opening match of the series, Afghanistan scored 300 runs against Nepal. Therefore, chasing a target of 192 in 300 balls was not expected to pose much difficulty for them.

However, Nepal's bowlers dismantled Afghanistan's top order. Dayanand Mandal and Bipin Sharma dismissed the first two Afghan batsmen for ducks. By the 20-over mark, Afghanistan had reached only 45/6.

As Afghanistan still had some wickets remaining along with sufficient overs left, they remained in contention. However, shortly after Ashok Dhami delivered the initial ball of the 21st over, rain disrupted play.

The umpires knocked over the bails, had the stumps taken away, and requested the groundskeepers to cover the wicket, aiming for play to restart shortly. However, with the persistent rainfall, they revised the scores using the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) system.

According to the DLS method, Nepal emerged victorious in the game by 85 runs.

As part of their preparations for the World Cup Asia Qualifiers, Nepal and Afghanistan are engaged in a friendly series. From April 13 onwards, Nepal will host Afghanistan along with Hong Kong, Oman, and the UAE. The nation topping this tournament will secure qualification for the 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by Zimbabwe and Namibia.