Nepal got a bitter lesson of Twenty20 cricket as Qatar turned a certain looking loss into an amazing three-wicket win at KEC Ground, Kuwait on Sunday.
At the end of 18 overs, Qatar was 104/7 needing 25 more runs off 12 balls to win. Vice-captain Paras Khadka was given the ball, and was hit for 24 runs – including three sixes.
Qatar needed a run from the last over and played two dot balls before hitting a six off the third to complete the win. Ali Rushad was the hero of Qatari win hitting 49 runs off 22 balls while Taj Omer, the man-of-the-match in ACC Trophy 2004 win against Nepal, scored 26 runs.
It was a brilliant performance from Qatar which lost two wickets in three overs to go down to 9/2 – thanks to Mehboob Alam who had a good match finishing 2/14 after batting well.
Earlier, Mehboob and Dipendra Chaudhary stood out in the dismal batting performance for Nepal. Mehboob scored 45 runs while Dipendra, recalled to the national team after a long absence, scored 49 not out. Their efforts took Nepal to 128/5 in 20 overs.
“It was disappointing but it’s Twenty20 cricket and you expect such things to happen,” captain Binod Das said after the defeat. “Now we have to focus on the remaining matches and try to win those two to qualify for the semifinals.”
Nepal takes on tournament favorite Afghanistan on Tuesday. On Saturday, Afghanistan had beaten Qatar by eight wickets chasing 152.
In other matches, UAE defeated Singapore by eight wickets, Saudi Arabia defeated Kuwait by five wickets and Oman had a narrow nine-run victory over Malaysia.