Nepal Beat Afghanistan By 5 Wickets To Open Asian Games Campaign With A Win

Nepal began its Asian Games cricket campaign with a five-wicket win over Afghanistan in Nisshin, chasing down 103 with 16 balls to spare.

Rajbanshi, Bhurtel Restrict Afghanistan

After choosing to bat, Afghanistan slipped to 16 for 3 in the fifth over as left-arm spinner Lalit Rajbanshi claimed all three wickets during the powerplay.

Afghanistan recovered through debutant Faisal Ahmadzai and Najibullah Zadran, who both scored 30. However, no other batter crossed 20.

Leg-spinner Kushal Bhurtel then dismantled Afghanistan's middle order, finishing with 4 for 21 from four overs.

Afghanistan eventually reached 102 for 7 in their 20 overs.

Nepal Stumble Before Recovery

Nepal's chase also began poorly, with Bhurtel dismissed for a duck in the opening over.

By the seventh over, Nepal had slipped to 31 for 3 and Afghanistan appeared to have put pressure on the chase.

Sundeep Jora's 34 and former captain Rohit Paudel's unbeaten 33 steadied Nepal's innings.

Paudel and Gulsan Jha remained unbeaten as Nepal reached the target in the 18th over, securing a five-wicket victory.

Afghanistan Suffer First Defeat

The defeat was Afghanistan's first in the competition after they had beaten Japan in their opening match on Thursday.

Nepal won their opening match and will face winless Japan in their final league game. Each team plays two matches in the league stage, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the quarter-finals.