Nepal brought Hong Kong back down to earth with a 80-run defeat in a battle between two ICC World Twenty20 debutants at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Sunday.
Hong Kong beat Zimbabwe in a practice match earlier to give an indication of their strength, but Nepal scripted history and, on the back of some individual brilliance, bowled Hong Kong out for 69 runs in 16.4 overs after posting 149-8.
Nepal skipper Paras Khadka struck with the first delivery in front of around 5000 fans and his side never looked back as they picked up wickets at regular intervals.
Left-arm spinner Shakti Gauchan and Basant Regmi ran through the batting line-up, sharing six wickets with their vicious spin, which the Hong Kong batsmen failed to negotiate. Shakti picked up 3-9, while Basant took 3-14. Only Babar Hayat showed some resistance, making 20.
Nepal made a good start when opener Subash Khakurel (22) and Sagar Pun (13) provided 36 runs in 4.4 overs, with the former playing some controlled on-side strokes before the pair was broken by Haseeb Amjad.
Pun’s full-bladed shot was nicely anticipated by the cover fielder, who dove to his right to grab the catch. His partner followed him in the next over before Khadka and Gyanendra Malla repaired the innings, putting on 80 runs for the third wicket.
Khadka hit four boundaries on his way to 41, while Malla gradually started to open up after spending some nervous time in the middle.
Malla was all but certain to pick up his maiden half-century before his mistimed a pull shot on 48 was skied back to the bowler Haseeb Amjad during an eventful final over, which saw Nepal lose four wickets.
Malla’s innings could have been cut short on 20 if Tanwir Afzal had managed to hold a simple catch at long-on.
Haseeb took 3-25 to finish as the most successful Hong Kong bowler.
BRIEF SCORES
Nepal 149-8 in 20 overs (G Malla 48, P Khadka 41, SP Khakurel 22, Haseeb 3-25, Nadeem 2-26) v Hong Kong 69 in 17.0 overs
(Babar 20, Waqas 18; Gauchan 3-9, Regmi 3-14)
Result: Nepal won by 80 runs. Man of the match: SP Gauchan (NPL)
-With New Age input
