KATHMANDU, April 3: Afghanistan retained the ACC T20 Cup 2013 title, defeating host Nepal by seven wickets, much to the disappointment of an overwhelming home crowd at TU cricket ground, Kirtipur, on Wednesay.
Chasing a 136-run target, Afghanistan touched the victory mark in 17.5 overs for the loss of three wickets. Man of the match Gulbadin Naib was the highest Afghan scorer with an unbeaten 43 off 42 balls that also included a four and a six. [break]
Skipper Mohammad Nabi, 38 off 24 balls with six boundaries, was the other batsman not out. Karim Sadiq made a fluent 32 off 29 balls, hitting five fours and a six, while Najibullah Zadran and Samuillah Shenwari contributed 15 and 9 respectively.
Nepal´s Shakti Gauchan and Paras Khadka took a wicket apiece. One Afghan player was run out. Earlier, skipper Paras Khadka played a captain´s knock, while hitting a composed half century as Nepal posted a mediocre target of 136.
Invited to bat first, Nepal had a shaky start, losing both its opener Pradeep Airee (1) and Subash Khakurel (10) with just 17 runs on board inside third over. Nepali batting suffered further setback when it lost Gyanendra Malla (10) in the next over. [break]
It was the 71-run third wicket partenership between captain Khadka and Binod Bhadari that actually brought the Nepali innings back on track. Khadka made a solid 50 off 40 balls including four boundaries and two sixes before he finally ran himself out in 18th over.
Bhandari scored 32 off 39 balls, including three fours and a six. Sharad Vesawkar (20 not out), who joined the crease after Bhadari was out, was involved in the late innings assault, smacking three straight boundaries in the last over that cost 17 runs.
Prithu Baskota made two runs before he was run out, where as Basanta Regmi remained not out on nought. Gulbadin Naib took two wickets whereas Shapoor Zadran and Hamza Hotak claimed one wicket each. Nepali skipper Khadka was adjudged man of the series.
Nepal defeated the UAE by six wickets while Afghanistan sidelined Hong Kong by seven wickets in the semifinals on Tuesday. [break]
Today’s final against holder Afghanistan is Nepal’s third straight final in major tournaments after it won the ICC World Cricket League Division 4 in Malaysia in September 2012 and shared the ACC Trophy Elite title with the host UAE in October.
Nepal squad: Paras Khada (skipper), Pradeep Airee, Subash Khakurel, Gyandendra Malla, Basanta Regmi, Binod Bhandari, Sharad Vesawkar, Prithu Baskota, Shakti Gauchan, Amrit Bhattarai, Sanjam Regmi
Afghanistan squad: Karim Sadiq†, Fazal Niazai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nasim, Mohammad Nabi (skipper), Gulbadin Naib, Shafiqullah, Shapoor Zadran, Hamza Hotak, Samiullah Shenwari, Aftab Alam
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