Aasif and Kushal star as Nepal surpass Gujarat

By Cricketing Country | Posted Posted Apr 03, 2024

Nepal registered its third successive win of the SMS Friendship Cup as they surpassed Gujarat by eight runs on Wednesday at Sai Meghpan SportsLife Ground.

Despite the middle order putting their best foot forward, Nepal posted 181-7 in 20 overs after being asked to bat first. Gujarat fell eight runs short as they scored 173-7 in response.

Nepal were comprehensively eyeing the 200-plus score with 144-1 in 15 overs. Despite having nine wickets in hand, Nepal scored at 7.4 in the last five overs, yielding only 37 runs in that phase.

Early on, openers Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh thwarted Gujarat’s attack, blunting everything thrown at them and never once looked out of their comfort zone. Aasif slammed 10 boundaries and 5 sixes for his 51-ball 85. Kushal scored 67 off 44 balls, hitting nine fours and two sixes.

Despite going for 46 runs in his four overs, Jaymeet Patel accounted for the maximum three wickets for Gujarat. Dhrushant Soni (2-26) and Aarya Desai (2-15) chipped in with two wickets apiece.

Gujarat were swiftly moving towards victory before Kushal Malla produced two wickets in the 16th over. The top scorer, Umang Tandel, was among his two wickets, giving away only three runs in an over. Umang scored 47 off 24 balls.

Sompal Kami returned figures of 2-18 in his four overs.