KATHMANDU: Nepal faced a 44-run defeat at the hands of Bangladesh in the under-23 men’s cricket of the 13th South Asian Games (SAG) held in Kirtipur Cricket Ground on Saturday. Withe this defeat, Nepal has lost the chance of winning gold medal.
Bangladesh restricted Nepal to mere 111 runs while it was chasing the 156-run target of the opponent.
Skipper Gyanendra Malla secured 43 runs off 43 balls, DS Airee made 16 runs off 13 balls while Abhinas Bohara collected 13 not-out runs. The other Nepali batsmen including Paras Khadka could not reach double-digit runs.
Exerting pressure on Nepal, Bangladeshi cricketers Mahedi Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Tanvir Islam and Sumon Khan took two wickets each of Nepal, giving away 30, 20, 20 and 21 runs respectively.
Earlier, invited to bat first after losing the toss, Bangladesh notched up 155 runs in the allotted 20 overs losing six wickets.
In reply, Paras Khadka grabbed three wickets giving away 15 runs, DS Airee claimed two wickets conceding 31 runs while Abinash Boharatook one wicket of Bangladesh.