Nepal has made a winning start in the first four-nation Twenty20 cricket tournament in Hong Kong. Nepal defeated Qatar by 8 wickets in Mong Kok on Wednesday after a strong performance by the top four batsmen.

After losing the toss, Qatar was invited to bat and scored 151 runs after losing 5 wickets in the scheduled 20 overs. Captain Ikramullah Khan contributed 54 runs. He hit 5 fours and 2 sixes while playing according to his strength. Khan took over the innings after opener Arumugaganesh Nagarajan was dismissed for 13 and Rifayi Theruvath for 6 runs. Khan and Shahzaib Jamil shared a 47-run partnership for the third wicket. Jamil scored 31 runs off 21 balls with 4 sixes. Jasim Khan is out for 4 runs. Mujeeb ur Rehman scored 20 off 19 balls with 1 four and Mohammad Irshad remained unbeaten on 18 off 7 balls with 1 four and 2 sixes. From Nepal, Karan KC, Sompal Kami, Nandan Yadav, Gulshan Jha and Lalit Rajvanshi took 1 wicket each. 

After Kushal Bhurtel and Asif Sheikh added 81 runs in the power-play to give an aggressive start, Nepal scored 154 runs in 17 overs. Player of the match Bhurtel scored 38 with 4 fours and 3 sixes in 19 balls and Asif scored 33 runs in 21 balls with 4 sixes. Both were dismissed by Mujib. Captain Rohit Paudel scored 37 with 2 fours and 1 six off 29 balls and Basir Ahmed remained unbeaten on 33 runs with 2 fours off 33 balls. 

In the next match of the day, Kuwait defeated the host Hong Kong by 4 wickets. Kuwait scored 180 runs in 19 overs to complete the 175 runs scored by Hong Kong by batting first. Nepal will play against Kuwait on Thursday.

Consolation win in U-19

Nepal U-19 cricket team has achieved success in the third youth ODI against Afghanistan U-19. Nepal defeated Afghanistan by 85 runs based on the Duckworth-Lewis method at the Moolpani Cricket Ground on Wednesday. 

After Afghanistan U-19 won the toss, Nepal U-19 was bowled out for 191 runs after playing only 44.5 overs. In reply, Afghanistan U-19 scored 46 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in 20.1 overs, but the match was affected by rain. As no more games were played, Nepal remained far ahead on the basis of Duckworth Lewis. 

However, Afghanistan had already won the series by 130 runs and 1 run respectively in the first two matches. These two have played this series during the preparation of the ICC U-19 World Cup Asia Qualifier to be held in Mulpani from Sunday. 

Nepal could not take advantage of the start that Sahil Patel and Neeraj Kumar Yadav gave. The duo got off to a great start by adding 83 runs in the 15th over. The partnership was broken when Neeraj was dismissed for 42 runs. He hit 6 fours and 1 six in 47 balls. 

Sahil scored 46 runs off 62 balls by hitting 4 fours and 1 six. Captain Naren Bhatt scored 22 off 35 balls with 3 fours, Darshan Sonar scored 10 runs and Roshan Vishwakarma scored 28 runs off 23 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes. But after Santosh Yadav 7, Dilsad Ali 3, Ashok Dhami 1, Bipin Sharma 4 runs and Aparajit Paudel were dismissed for zero, the Nepali youth team ended the scheduled over. 

Afghanistan's Hasif Zadran took 4 wickets. He spent 49 runs with 2 maidens in 10 overs. Abdul Aziz and Zaitullah Sahin took 2-2 and Rohullah Arab and Mahbub Khan took 1-1 wickets. 

In reply, Nepal started the sensation by dismissing both the openers of Afghanistan before opening the account. Dayanand Mandal bowled Uzairullah Niezai in the first ball of the innings, while in the second over, Vipin also bowled Khalid Ahmadzai.

Faizal Sinozada was out for 16, Mahbabu 8, Bakrat Ibrahimzai 5 and Nazifullah Amiri 1 run. Azizullah Mia Khil 15 and Sahin were about to open their account when the rain stopped the game. From Nepal U-19, Aparajit took 2 wickets and Dayanand, Bipin, Santosh Yadav and Ashok Dhami took 1 wicket each.