Kathmandu – Nepal defeated Hong Kong by 7 wickets chasing a revised target at Bayuemas Oval Pandamaran, Kuala Lumpur, on Monday.
Nepal 147/3 (34.1/38 ov, target 144) defeated Hong Kong 181/10 (41.5 overs)
Winning the toss, Nepal bowled first and restricted Hong Kong to 181 runs in 41.5 overs despite their opening batsman Irfan Ahmed scoring a century. Irfan faced 115 balls and struck 10 fours and three sixes in his 106 run inning.
Roy Lamsam, Nizakat Khan & Waqas Barkat added 18, 17, 16 runs respectively. Medium-pacer Sompal Kami took four wickets, while left-arm spinner Basant Regmi finished with three.
Chasing 182, Nepal were 121 for 3 in the 28th over, with Paras Khadka and Sharad Vesawkar in the middle, when the match was interrupted by rain. Irfan, having kept Hong Kong in the game with the bat, had taken two wickets with his medium-pace. But an innings of 41 from opener Naresh Budhayair kept Nepal on course.
Set a revised target of 144 in 38 overs after the game resumed, Nepal got home without any further loss of wickets, with 23 balls remaining, and Khadka unbeaten on 43 off 52 balls.
Nepal will face Arch-Rival Afghanistan on May 7, 2014.
