Nepal defeats Qatar by eight wickets in T20I Series opener

Nepal secured a convincing eight-wicket victory over Qatar in the opening match of the Four-Nation T20I Series, which began today at Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground in Hong Kong. Chasing a target of 152 runs, Nepal reached the total in just 17 overs, losing only two wickets in the process. Kushal Bhurtel led the chase with a quickfire 38 runs off 19 balls, followed by captain Rohit Paudel, who scored 37 runs off 29 balls.

Aasif Sheikh contributed 33 runs, while Basir Ahmed remained unbeaten on 30 runs. Nepal also benefited from 16 extras during the chase. For Qatar, Mujeeb Ur Rahman was the only wicket-taker, claiming two wickets.



Earlier, Qatar-invited to bat first after losing the toss-posted 151 runs for the loss of five wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Captain Ikramullah Khan top-scored with a solid 54 runs off 54 balls, including five fours and two sixes. Other contributions came from Shahzaib Jamil (31), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (20), Mohammed Irshad (18), and Arumugaganesh Nagarajan (13).

Rifayi Theruvath and Jassim Khan added six and four runs, respectively. Qatar also gained five extra runs. Nepal's bowling attack saw five players take one wicket each: Karan KC, Sompal Kami, Nandan Yadav, Gulshan Jha, and Lalit Rajbanshi.

Nepal will face its next opponent in the series later this week..