KATHMANDU: Nepal has bagged a bronze medal by defeating the Maldives by five wickets in the men’s cricket tournament under the 13th South Asian Games (SAG) held in Kirtipur Cricket Ground on Monday.

Chasing the 95-run target set for Nepal by the Maldives, Nepal reached the target in the allotted 16.1 overs losing five wickets.

Nepal’s Aarif Sheikh top-scored with 32 runs including three fours and one six off 28 balls, skipper Gyanendra Malla made 22 runs including two fours off 24 balls while RK Paudel grabbed 15 runs and remained not-out.

Umar Adam took three wickets of Nepal giving away 20 runs in 4 overs.

Earlier, being invited to bat first after losing the toss, the Maldives made 94 runs in the allotted 20 overs losing 9 wickets.

L Shafeeg made 19 not-out runs, Mohamed Rishwan collected 17 runs off 18 balls while Mohamed Mahfooz contributed 16 runs off 23 balls.

In reply, LN Rajbanshi and S Bhari took 3 and 2 wickets each of the Maldives.