Nepal Defeats Afghanistan by Five Wickets in Asian Games Cricket

Kathmandu: Nepal has defeated Afghanistan by five wickets in the men’s cricket event of the ongoing Asian Games. Nepal secured the victory in the match held at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Aichi, Japan.

Nepal chased down Afghanistan’s target of 103 runs in 17.2 overs, losing five wickets in the process. Sandeep Jora was Nepal’s top scorer with 34 runs, while Rohit Paudel remained unbeaten on 33 and Dipendra Singh Airee scored 15 runs.

Afghanistan, having won the toss and elected to bat first, scored 102 runs for the loss of seven wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Faisal Shinozada was Afghanistan’s highest scorer with 33 runs, followed by Najibullah Zadran with 30 and Nangeyalia Kharote with 17.

For Nepal, Kushal Bhurtel took four wickets, while Lalit Rajbanshi claimed three.

Nepal is placed in Group ‘A’ alongside Afghanistan and Japan. Afghanistan had previously defeated Japan in the opening match held on Thursday.

Nepal is set to play against Japan on Saturday. The top two teams from the group will advance to the quarter-finals, where Nepal will face either India or Sri Lanka.

In the previous Asian Games as well, Nepal was defeated by India in the quarter-finals.