World Twenty20: Nepal clinches 80-run win over Hong Kong

Dhaka, March 17 (IANS) Nepal clinched a 80-run victory over Hong Kong in their first match in the qualifying rounds of the ICC World T20 in Chittagong on Sunday.

Batting first, Nepal set a target of 150 runs in their allocated 20 overs losing eight wickets. In reply, Hong Kong were all-out for 69 runs in 17 overs.

Babar Hayat scored highest 20 runs for Hong Kong.

S.P. Gauchan and B. Regmi picked up three wickets each to steer Neptal to victory over Hong Kong.

Riding on 48 runs from G. Malla, Nepal set the fighting target in which P. Khadka contributed 41 runs.

Haseeb Amjad was the pick of the bowlers for Hong Kong, taking three wickets when Nadeem Ahmed grabbed two wickets.

Hong Kong won the toss and elected to bowl first.

From four teams of the group — Bangladesh and Afghanistan being the other two — merely one team will move to the next round.

Earlier in the day, Bangladesh clinched a nine-wicket victory against Afghanistan in World T20 opener Sunday at the Sher-e- Bangla National stadium in Dhaka.

There are 16 teams to participate for Men’s title and 10 for Women’s title, which will be played alongside.

Out of 16 participating names, 10 reserved spots for direct entry are for full member International Cricket Council (ICC) teams, which include Australia, England, South Africa, India, New Zealand, West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, in order of their induction in ICC’s full member’s list.

The rest of the six teams are Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Ireland, Nepal, Netherlands and United Arab Emirates. The 10 women’s sides have been divided into two groups, which are Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, Ireland in Group-A while England, West Indies, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are placed in Group-B.