Nepal defeated Kuwait by 58 runs in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia and EAP Qualifiers.
Chasing a victory target of 142 runs posted by Nepal in the match held at the Al Amerat cricket ground in Oman, Kuwait managed to score 83 runs losing all the wickets in 18.1 overs.
Only three Kuwait batsmen could score in double digits with opener Clinto Anto and batsman Yashin Patel contributing 26 and 19 runs respectively. Meet Bhavsar scored 11 runs in 12 balls.
Nepali bowlers Lalit Rajbansi, Sandeep Lamichhane and Captain Rohit Paudel took two wickets each in giving their team the first win of the qualifiers. Sompal Kami, Nandan Yadav and Kushal Bhurtel claimed one wicket each.
Earlier, batting first after losing the toss, Nepal scored 141 runs in 20 overs at the loss of seven wickets.
Opener Kushal Bhurtel top-scored with 66 runs in 56 balls followed by Dipendra Singh Airee and Gulshan Jha who scored 20 runs each.
Captain Rohit Paudel was the third batsman to reach double figures, scoring 16 runs in 15 balls. Bhurtel won the player-of-the-match award for taking 1 wicket as well.
For Kuwait, N Rajendran and A Chandamara took two wickets each followed by M.A. Farooq and M. Aslam who took one wicket each.
Led by captain Paudel, Nepali national team comprises Asif Sheikh, Kushal Bhurtel, Kushal Malla, Sandeep Jora, Dipendra Singh Airee, Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi, Sompal Kami, Nandan Yadav, Gulshan Jha and Sandeep Lamichhane.
Nepal have been grouped together with Kuwait and Japan in Group B. There are three groups comprising nine countries vying for a spot in the T20 world cup taking place from February to March in 2026.
