Kathmandu, October 1
Nepal cricket team have continued their impressive start to the Asian Games by beating Maldives by 138 runs.
Winning both group games, Nepal have reached the quarter-final of the Asian Games cricket.
Winning the toss, Nepal chose to bat first and did not have the best start. Despite some power hitting by Kushal Bhurtel, Nepal were reduced to 67 for four and Nepal’s middle order struggled.
The innings was anchored by captain Rohit Paudel who came down the order. Paudel was impressive as he top-scored with 52 from only 27 balls. He was helped by Gulshan Jha who scored 35 off 21 balls. An explosive hitting from Kushal Malla took Nepal to an impressive 212 in the allotted 20 overs.
In reply, the Maldives did not look comfortable losing their first wicket in the second ball of the innings. Wickets continued to fall with Abinash Bohara taking three in a single over reducing Maldives to 16 for four. Bohara was the pick of the bowlers picking up six wickets. He was on a hat trick twice.
Nepali bowlers continued to pile on the pressure and they kept chipping in with wickets to bowl them out for 74 winning the game by 138 runs.
Nepal will either face India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka or Bangladesh. A draw will be conducted to decide who they will play.
