The Nepali national cricket team has secured a place in the semi-finals by defeating Hong Kong in the third match of Group A under the ACC Premier Cup.
Pursuing the usual target of 115 runs for victory at Al Amerat ground, Nepal lost 2 wickets and completed the target in the 13th over. After an aggressive start by the opening pair, Nepal managed to register its third consecutive victory in the tournament.
With this win, Nepal has entered the semi-finals by adding 6 points in 3 games. Now Nepal will play the last match against Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. Hong Kong is on the verge of exiting the tournament with 2 points in 3 games.
Openers Kushal Bhurtel and Asif Sheikh shared an aggressive partnership of 70 runs for Nepal. Kushal scored 32 runs in 19 balls before being dismissed lbw in the third ball of the sixth over. He hit 3 fours and 2 sixes.
Asif also returned to the pavilion in the next over. He contributed 40 runs in 18 balls with 3 fours and a six. Captain Rohit Paudel remained not out for 25 runs and Sandeep Zora for 19 runs. Hong Kong's Yaseem Murtaza and Ehsan Khan took 1 wicket each.
Before that, after winning the toss and inviting Hong Kong to bat, Nepal displayed excellent bowling and fielding. The match, which started a little late due to rain, ended in 18 overs. But Hong Kong was bowled out for 114 runs with 1 ball remaining in the innings.
After losing opener Martin Kotzi for 8 runs in the third over, Hong Kong lost the next two wickets in run-outs. Dipendra Singh Airi runs out Nizakat Khan to the tune of taking a single. He added 12 runs in 11 balls.
Then Anshuman Rath who was playing well was run out by Gulshan Jha with a direct throw from the deep boundary. He contributed 34 runs off 26 balls with 4 fours and 1 six. After that, Hong Kong lost regular wickets. Hong Kong, which was at 61-2 at the time of Anshuman, was then beaten cheaply.
For Hong Kong, Zeeshan Ali got out for 14, Babar Hayat for 6, Aijaz Khan for 7 and Yaseem Murtaza for 2 runs. Nasrullah Rana scored 6 runs and Ehsan Khan scored 11 runs. Dhananjay Rao was bowled on the first ball.
For Nepal, Abhinash Bohora took 3 wickets and Lalit Rajwanshi took 2 wickets with a maiden. Dipendrasinh Airi took 2 wickets in the last 2 balls and Karan KC took 1 wicket.
0 Comments