Nisshin, 25 September (H.S.): Nepal began their Asian Games cricket campaign with a victory, defeating Afghanistan by five wickets on Friday, riding on outstanding bowling performances from Kushal Bhurtel and Lalit Rajbanshi. Afghanistan posted 102 for seven in 20 overs after opting to bat first, while Nepal chased down the target by scoring 103 for five in 17.2 overs. The spellings of the players’ names have been checked against current squad and match sources.

Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat, but made a disastrous start. By the fifth over, they had been reduced to 16 for three. Left-arm spinner Lalit Rajbanshi claimed all three wickets during his three-over spell in the powerplay.

Afghanistan debutant Faisal Shinozada scored 30 runs off 33 balls, while Najibullah Zadran also made 30. The pair attempted to steady the innings, but leg-spinner Kushal Bhurtel prevented the middle order from settling. Bhurtel claimed four wickets for 21 runs in his four overs. Apart from Najibullah and Shinozada, no Afghan batter managed to reach the 20-run mark.

Nepal also made a poor start to the chase. Bhurtel was dismissed for a duck in the opening over, and by the seventh over Nepal were struggling at 31 for three.

Sundeep Jora and former captain Rohit Kumar Paudel then took charge. Both played crucial innings to put Nepal back on course for victory. Jora scored 34, while Paudel remained unbeaten on 33. Along with Gulshan Jha, Paudel took Nepal to the target in the 18th over.

The defeat marked Afghanistan’s first loss of the tournament. They had begun their campaign on Thursday with a victory over Japan.

Brief Scores:

Afghanistan: 102/7 in 20 overs (Najibullah Zadran 30, Faisal Shinozada 30; Kushal Bhurtel 4/21, Lalit Rajbanshi 3/13)

Nepal: 103/5 in 17.2 overs (Sundeep Jora 34, Rohit Kumar Paudel 33 not out)

Result: Nepal won by five wickets.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar