By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Nov 16: Sharad Vesawkar guided Nepal to its first victory at ACC Emerging Team Asia Cup 2019 beating Hong Kong by 40 runs at Dhaka, Bangladesh on Saturday.
Vesawkar hit a half-ton as Nepal registered to lead his team to victory.
Hong Kong won the toss and invited Nepal to bat first. Vesawkar put up a sterling show with bat to guide Nepal to 217 in the allocated 50 overs match.
Vesawkar delivered 89 runs off 139 balls that included 9 boundaries while Mohammad Asif Sheikh scored second highest with 42 runs off 48 balls that included 3 boundaries and 3 sixes and the middle order batsman Dipendra Singh Airee chipped in 37 runs off 67 balls that included 43 boundaries. Veswkar was declared the man of the match for his memorable innings against Hong Kong.
Similarly, Binod Bhandari, known for his pinch hitting, made 15 runs off 13 balls that included one boundary. Other Nepali batters failed to reach double digit in the match.
Mohammad Aizaz grabbed three wickets while Nasrulla Rana and Ehsan Nawaz took two wickets each for Hong Kong. Similarly, Aftab Hussain Raunaq Kapur contributed one wicket each for the Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, Nepal bowlers Karan KC and Abinash Bohara bowled very well as Hong Kong packed-up at in 45.5 over in 177 runs.
KC and Bohara took three wickets apiece while Sushan Bhari contributed two wickets in the victory of Nepal.
Kinchit Shah’s half century was not enough for Hong Kong to register win over Nepal. Shah scored 53 runs off 80 balls that included 3 boundaries and 1 six while Ehsan Nawaz made 44 runs off 53 balls that included 2 boundaries and 3 sixes.
Haroon Mohammad Arshad scored 26 runs off 51 balls included 1 boundary.