Kathmandu, September 4
Nepal have crashed out of the Asia Cup Qualifiers being played in Malaysia and failed to secure a place in the Asia Cup tournament, scheduled for later this month.
Nepal went to their match against Hong Kong looking for a big win to keep their hopes of making it to the final of the round-robin tournament. However, it was Hong Kong that secured a huge victory against the rhinos, despite a fifer from spinner Sandeep Lamichhane.
Having won the toss, Nepal elected to bat first, and were bundled out for 95 runs in 37.5 overs. Hong Kong’s veteran off-spinner Ehshan Khan claimed four Nepali scalps including that of skipper Paras Khadka. HK suffered a few hiccups chasing down the target as it lost seven wickets in the process. Sandeep Lamichhane claimed five wickets including that of skipper Anshuman Rath.
Nepal had earlier suffered defeats at the hands of Oman and the UAE. The consolation wins against Malaysia and Singapore were not enough to book them a place in Asia’s premier cricket tournament.
