KATHMANDU: Nepal has faced a four-wicket defeat at the hand of Qatar in the first match of the ICC Men’s World Cup Asia Finals.
Chasing the 123-run target, Qatar reached it 19.2 overs, losing six wickets.
Inam-ul-Haq top scored with 41 runs including six fours off 32 balls. Similarly, Kamran Khan made 22 runs including two fours and two sixes off 15 balls Nouman Sarwar contributed 15 runs off 15 balls.
In reply, S Lamichhane two highest three wickets of Qatar giving away 33 runs in four overs while Karan KC took one wicket.
Earlier, electing to bat first after winning the toss, Nepal notched up 122 runs in the allotted 20 overs.
Dipendra Singh Airee top-scored with 34 runs including one four, one six off 35 balls. Similarly, skipper Paras Khadka made 23 runs including two fours and one six off 24 balls while Sompal Kami and Sharad Vesawkar contributed 11 and 9 runs respectively.
Qatar’s bowler Iqbal Hussain took three wickets of Nepal, Tamoor Sajjad and Nouman Sarwar claimed one wicket each.
The match started at 7 am according to Nepali time. A total of five teams are taking part in the ICC Men’s T-20 World Cup Asia Finals cricket tournament that commenced from July 22.
It is a qualifying competition for the Asian teams to secure berth in the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier. Nepal, Qatar, Singapore, Kuwait, Malaysia are competing in Singapore between July 22 to 28.
Fixtures of the tournament are as follows:
July 22
Singapore vs Qatar
Kuwait vs Malaysia
July 23
Qatar vs Nepal
Singapore vs Kuwait
July 24
Nepal vs Malaysia
July 26
Qatar vs Kuwait
Singapore vs Malaysia
July 27
Kuwait vs Nepal
Malaysia vs Qatar
July 28
Singapore vs Nepal
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