Afghanistan vs Nepal: Nepal win Asian Games cricket
Ended with Nepal pulling off a five-wicket win in Nisshin, thanks to a combined seven-wicket haul from Kushal Bhurtel and Lalit Rajbanshi. Nepal chased 103…
Nepal beat Afghanistan by five wickets in their Asian Games men’s cricket match in Nisshin after a disciplined bowling effort and a calm chase under pressure. The result gave Nepal a winning start to its cricket campaign and handed Afghanistan its first defeat in the competition.
Afghanistan, who had opened with a win against Japan on Thursday, were restricted to 102 for 7 in 20 overs. Nepal reached 103 for 5 with 16 balls to spare.
Bhurtel and Rajbanshi seize control
Spinners Kushal Bhurtel and Lalit Rajbanshi did the damage early and often. Together, they shared seven wickets, with Rajbanshi taking 3 for 13 and Bhurtel finishing with 4 for 21.
After opting to bat, Afghanistan were reduced to 16 for 3 in the fifth over. Rajbanshi removed all three wickets in his three powerplay overs, putting Nepal firmly on top before the innings had settled.
Faisal Ahmadzai, making his T20I debut for Afghanistan, made 30 off 33 balls. Najibullah Zadran matched that score exactly, also making 30, and the pair briefly steadied the innings. But the rest of the batting line-up could not push the total much further. No other Afghanistan batter passed 20.
Bhurtel then attacked the middle order and kept the pressure on. His four wickets came in an 11-run spell that stopped Afghanistan from building any late momentum. It was a short innings, and a costly one.
Nepal recover after early wobble
Nepal did not have it all their own way. Bhurtel fell for a duck in the first over of the chase, and by the seventh over Nepal were wobbling at 31 for 3. The target was still modest, but the pressure was real.
Sundeep Jora and former captain Rohit Paudel took the chase back under control. Jora scored 34, while Paudel finished on 33 not out. They rebuilt the innings and pushed Nepal toward the finish line.
Paudel stayed unbeaten, and Gulsan Jha was with him when Nepal got the job done in the 18th over. The chase ended without drama, even if the early stages had suggested a tighter contest.
What the result means in the group
The Asian Games cricket group stage features six teams — Japan, Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Oman and Nepal — fighting for four quarter-final spots. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh go straight into the quarter-finals as the highest-seeded Full Member teams based on ICC rankings.
That makes Nepal’s opening win valuable. It gives the side an early edge in a compact group where one result can shape the path to the knockout rounds. Afghanistan, meanwhile, must respond quickly after a defeat that started with a strong position but slipped away once Nepal’s spinners took control.
The match also underlined the contrast in the two innings. Afghanistan could not break away from Nepal’s spin attack, and Nepal, despite the wobble in the chase, had enough batting depth to finish the job with room to spare.
For Nepal, it was a sharp, efficient start. For Afghanistan, the 102 for 7 in 20 overs left too little margin, and the five-wicket loss came with 16 balls still unused.
In a group this tight, that kind of finish matters.
Source: english.nepalnews.com
