Nepal Triumphs: 79-Run Victory Over Hong Kong in Tri-nation T20

Nepal beat Hong Kong by 79 runs in the 3rd match of the T20 Tri-nation tournament being played in Nepal. The tournament also includes United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the third team. The game today was played in Mulpani Cricket Ground, Kathmandu.

Electing to bat first after winning the toss, Nepal started very poorly losing four important wickets in just 8.1 overs for a mere 55 runs. Openers Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh were out for 2 and 20 respectively. Coming on first and second down, Sompal Kami and captain Rohit Poudel, also just could manage 8 and 11 respectively. But it was the impressive batting display by Kushal Malla and Dipendra Singh Airee, that Nepal made a good comeback.

Kushal Malla made a magnificent 92 of just 41 balls including 9 massive sixes and 4 fours. Similarly, Dipendra Singh Airee, continuing his brilliant run of form of late, contributed with 57 runs from just 34 balls. Airee hit 2 sixes and 6 fours. No bowlers from Hong Kong could make an impact and all were hit for runs. Haroon Arshad and Mohammad Ghazanfar took two wickets each but at an economy rate of 9.75 and 13.25 per over. 

In reply to the huge target set by Nepal, Hong made the worst start possible losing both its openers for 0 and 2 runs. But Anshy Rath and Babar Hayat brought some home for Hong Kong with a 45-run partnership. But as the partnership was growing, Sompal Kami took the wicket of Babar Hayat, who made 20 runs. Hong Kong again tried to recover with incoming batsman Aizaz Khan making 25 runs from 24 balls and the top scorer for Hong Kong Anshy Rath with 45 runs. But just at the wrong time at the score of 93, Hong Kong lost well-settled Rath. Later at the score of 109, Lalit Rajbanshi took the wicket of Khan, after which Hong Kong's innings were all in tatters. In the end, Hong Kong could manage just 134 runs for the loss of 8 wickets.

For Nepal, all the bowlers bowled really well. The bowlers kept taking wickets, thus never allowing to settle Hong Kong's innings at any point. Karn KC, Sompal Kami, and Lalit Rajbanshi took 2 wickets each, while the remaining two wickets went to Pratis GC and Dipendra Singh Airee.  

For his impressive batting display with 92 runs, Nepal's Kushal Malla was declared Man of the Match. Nepal leads the table with 6 points, with 3 wins from 3 games, while both Hong and UAE have not opened their accounts yet. The fourth match will be played tomorrow between Hong Kong and UAE at the same venue.