Hosts make winning start at T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier in Nepal
Two places are up for grabs in the tournament in Nepal and the hosts made a strong start to their campaign against Singapore, chasing down a target of 146 with 3.3 overs and eight wickets to spare.
Kushal Bhurtel’s sparkling 74 led the way with the highest score of the T20I as the top-ranked side at the event made a strong start in Group A.
Nepal are joined in the top-two of the group by Oman, who overpowered Malaysiain Kirtipur’s afternoon match.
Zeeshan Maqsood put in a Player of the Match display with 56* to help his side to 153/6 in the first innings, and then returned figures of 2/13 with the ball to help scupper the Malaysia reply.
Virandeep Singh’s excellent 57* wasn’t enough to help his side avoid a 32-run loss.
In the other group it was an impressive start for UAE, who overcame Bahrainin an exciting match at Mulpani Cricket Ground.
Wickets fell as UAE looked to chase down Bahrain’s 135/6, but Ali Naseer steadied the ship with a match-winning 48* to follow his critical bowling return of 1/20.
Hong Kong China slammed on the runs against Kuwaitin the other Group B match to make a winning start by 16 runs.
Martin Coetzee’s 81 helped set up a big first-innings score of 166. And Hong Kong China successfully defended that tally, taking the key wicket of Mohammad Aslam just as it looked like Kuwait were getting on top of the chase.
Two spots in next year’s 20-team ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will be secured over the course of this seven-day event.
The teams are split into two groups, with the top two in each to progress to the semi-finals. The winners of those semi-finals will seal a spot at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup next year, with the two qualifiers also set to meet in an Asia Qualifier final to be held on 5 November.