Winning the toss and electing to bat first at the Kinrara Oval, Nepal was all out for 193 in 43 overs but came back strongly to bowl out Kuwait for 109 in 36.2 overs.[break]
Openers Nischal Pandey (10 runs off 15 balls) and Amit Shrestha shared a 20-run partnership. Pandey was bowled by Shahrukh Quddus in the fourth ball of the fourth over. However, Shrestha and Harishankar Shah added 69 runs for the second wicket. Shrestha scored 46 runs off 52 balls with seven boundaries.
Nepal then suffered a mini-collapse as captain Bhuwan Karki (0), Nirmal Thapa (1), Shah (23) and Prem Tamang (6) fell in quick succession. Avinash Karn (3 runs off 17 balls) then put up a 21-run partnership for the seventh wicket with Pawan Shrestha. Shrestha made a run-a-ball 23 before he was bowled by Ali Zaheer.
Nepal was at 126/8 in 28.2 overs but Sushant Bhari (28 runs off 33 balls) and Irshad Ahmed produced a 40-run partnership for the ninth wicket. Ahmed, who remained unbeaten on 18 runs off 40 balls, also added 27 runs for the last wicket with Kumal (9).
Abdul Jabbar was the pick of the Kuwait bowlers with four wickets, while Shahrukh Quddus and Ali Zaheer accounted for two Nepali scalps each. Fazlur Rahman and Mohammed Meezan Ali took a wicket each. Kuwait bowlers gave away 26 runs as extras.
Defending the total, Kumal took three wickets and Bhari grabbed two to skittle Kuwait for a low total. Avinash Karn, Bhuwan Karki and Nischal Pandey shared three wickets among them, while two Kuwait batsmen were run-out.
Kumal, the first cricketer from the remote Achham district to play for the national squad in any age group, kept his first over a wicket-maiden and then claimed two wickets in his next over giving away only one run. Kumal´s early strikes dealt a severe blow to Kuwait and the Gulf team did not get a chance to consolidate the innings. Kumal´s bowling figure in the match was 9-1-16-3.
For Kuwait, No 10 Shahrukh Quddus topscored with a cameo of 36 off 32, including a four and three sixes. Batting at No 4, Faizaan Siddiq scored 21 runs off 67 balls and No 9 Mohammed MuKadam added 11 runs. No other Kuwait batsmen could reach double figures.
Nepal´s Bhari was adjudged the man of the match for his all-round performance. Nepal will take on Qatar on Sunday.
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