Nepal has booked a position in the semifinal of the ICC T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier. An easy six-wicket win against Malaysia at TU Cricket Ground on Tuesday confirmed Nepal’s seat in the top four.
Oman has also confirmed their seat in the semifinal from Group A. Both Oman and Nepal have won two matches each. The group’s top spot will be determined by the outcome of the Nepal-Oman match scheduled for November 2.
Following a good target of 166 runs, Nepal completed the chase in 18 overs losing four wickets. Kushal Malla was the star of the chase with a fiery inning.
Kushal Bhurtel started aggressively and scored 25-ball 43 before departing in the sixth over. His opening companion, Aasif Sheikh, contributed 32 runs from 23 deliveries before the Kushal Malla show started at TU Cricket Ground.
7 SIXES & 2 FOURS in 34-ball innings from Kushal Malla against Malaysia today helped Nepal to secure a second win in the tournament.#NEPvMAL | #ICCT20Q pic.twitter.com/tTcSdrWgPP
— cricnepal.com 🇳🇵 🦏 (@cricnepal) October 31, 2023
Malla played a blistering inning notching up 65 runs from 34 balls, which included seven sixes and two fours. Meanwhile, Sundeep Jora scored the winning run and ended up unbeaten at 18 runs.
In the first inning, Malaysia chose to bat first after winning the toss and managed to set a total of 165/9 on the scoreboard. They made a strong start, accumulating 59 runs while losing just one wicket during the powerplay. However, in the subsequent 14 overs, they could only add 106 runs and ended up losing eight wickets.
Recap – Abinash Bohara's four-wicket haul against Malaysia helped restrict them to 165/9 in 20.0 overs.
Three wickets came in the death overs. 📷#NEPvMAL | #ICCT20Q pic.twitter.com/n1mX7E5zCS
— cricnepal.com 🇳🇵 🦏 (@cricnepal) October 31, 2023
Opener Syed Aziz top-scored with 68 runs. He hammered eight fours and two sixes in a 49-ball inning. His opening partner Zubaidi Zulkifle contributed 24 runs before departing. The rest of the Malaysian batting lineup couldn’t make significant contributions.
Abinash Bohara once again was the pick of a bowler for Nepal. He grabbed four wickets conceding 27 runs from his four-over spell. Gulshan Jha, Sandeep Lamichhane and Rohit Paudel pocketed one wicket each.
