International

Karan KC and Binod Bhandari helps Nepal to beat Hong Kong

Nepal Men defeated Hong Kong by four wickets in the Pentagular T20I series at Al Amerat ground in Oman on Sunday.

Binod Bhandari, struck unbeaten 58 from 48 balls, his highest T20I and match-winning inning knock, guided Nepal for a victory with six balls to spare.

During the chase, Nepal lost their four wickets for just 36 runs, including the wicket of their in-form captain and opener Paras Khadka for a first ball duck.

Losing their captain early, other opener Pawan Sarraf made 10 runs, Dipendra Singh Airee made 6(11) and Rohit Kumar Paudel 5(6) were dismissed during the first power play.

However, the big rescue came from the fifth wicket partnership between Aarif Sheikh and Binod Bhandari. The duo kept the chase alive by putting 61 runs together. Aarif Sheikh played a shit anchor role in that partnership before being dismissed for 21.

All-rounder Sompal Kami, then, joined Bhandari and added two important boundaries to the score with a knock of 11 runs. Bhandari hit Ehsan Khan for a six and couple to complete the chase in the penultimate over of the match.

Binod Bhandari hit four boundaries and three sixes for his highest T20I innings of 58* off 48 balls, beating his previous record of 51 against Malaysia.

****

Earlier, Nepal restricted Hong Kong for 126 runs with the help of their premier fast bowler Karan KC, who took four wickets, his career best, after opting to field first.

Waqas Barkat was the top scorer for Hong Kong. He contributed 37 off 47 balls, including two boundaries. Kinchit Shah, the wicket-keeper batsman made 21 runs.

Avinash Bohara clinched one wicket for Nepal.

Nepal will play Netherlands in the next match on October 7.