By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu (HamroKhelkud) – Nepal’s title defense of the ACC Men’s Premier Cup has kicked off with a struggling five-wicket win over Malaysia in Group A.
Nepal, chasing a medium total of 144 runs, got over the line losing five wickets with four balls to spare. Gulshan Jha’s 19 runs off 7 deliveries towards the end rescued Nepal from a gruesome situation after a slow start. Sandeep Jora remained unbeaten on 12 runs off 9 deliveries.
Nepal’s openers went back to the pavilion after a decent but slow start to the chase. Kushal Bhurtel was the first to depart on 24 off 24 followed by Aasif Sheikh on 32 off 35. Kushal Malla could only manage 7 runs off 6 deliveries and went off as the third wicket.
Skipper Rohit Paudel got out with a steady 24-ball 28 in the 17th over. Dipendra Singh Airee’s flurry of an 11-ball 20 was also shortlived. But thankfully for Nepal, Jha and Jora got them over the line.
Malaysian skipper Virandeep Singh took three Nepali wickets with Pavandeep Singh and Muhammad Wafid took one wicket each.
Earlier, winning the toss and batting first, Malaysia posted a total of 143 runs in 20 overs losing just three wickets.
Virandeep was handy with the bat as well with a 57-ball 72. Similarly Sharvin Muniandy scored 33-ball 41 while Muhammad Amir chipped in with an 18-ball 16.
Dipendra Singh AIree took two wickets for Nepal with the remaining one wicket falling for Abinash Bohora.
Nepal will take on Qatar in their second match tomorrow. The group comprises of Nepal, Malaysia, Qatar, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia. Hong Kong have also registered a win against Qatar in their first match today.
UAE and Oman in Group B have also got off to a winning start. That group consists of Kuwait, Bahrain and Cambodia.
