Nepal ease past Qatar on return to international cricket after five months

By Cricketing Country | Posted Posted Apr 09, 2025

Nepal got the better of Qatar by eight wickets to open their account in the Hong Kong Quadrangular T20I Series on Wednesday at Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground. Having won the toss, Nepal invited Qatar to bat first. Nandan Yadav received his debut cap, becoming the 49th player to represent Nepal in T20 internationals.

Qatar posted a respectable 151 for 5 in their 20 overs, which Nepal chased down comfortably with 18 balls to spare. Qatar, fielding a fresh squad with only three players retained from their last T20I outing at the Gulf T20I Championship in December, were led by their new skipper Ikramullah Khan. He went on to top-score with a run-a-ball 54, featuring five boundaries and two maximums, before becoming Nandan Yadav’s maiden international scalp.

The Qatar innings was held together by two key partnerships in the middle overs. Ikramullah stitched 47 with Shahzaib Jamil and later added 41 with Mujeeb-ur-Rehman for the fifth wicket. Towards the end, Mohammed Irshad provided a much-needed flourish with an unbeaten 18 off just 7 deliveries, clearing the fence twice to lift Qatar to a fighting total, though it proved below par on the ground having a small boundary.

Nepal’s bowling unit kept things tight throughout, maintaining impressive discipline without a single wide bowled. However, they did concede one no-ball and four leg byes in extras. Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Lalit Rajbanshi, Gulshan Jha, and debutant Nandan Yadav shared a wicket apiece.

Nepal’s chase was eased even before the first delivery was bowled, as Qatar’s right-arm medium pacer Muhammad Jabir conceded eight extras before he could deliver a legal ball, eventually leaking 18 runs in the opening over of the innings. That chaotic start set the tone for Nepal’s chase.

Openers Kushal Bhurtel and Asif Sheikh capitalised fully on the momentum, adding 81 runs for the opening wicket. The partnership was broken just before the end of the powerplay, with Player of the Match Bhurtel departing after a quickfire 38 off 19 balls, laced with four boundaries and three sixes.

Asif Sheikh kept the momentum going with a handy 33 off 21 balls, striking four sixes to ease the chase. After his departure, skipper Rohit Paudel and Basir Ahmad took charge with a steady 62-run partnership for the third wicket, guiding Nepal to a comfortable eight-wicket victory.

For Qatar, Mujeeb-ur-Rehman stood out with the ball, returning figures of 3-0-12-2, as their only wicket- taker of the innings.

Nepal will now face Kuwait tomorrow in their second fixture of the competition, looking to build on this strong start.