Bangladesh has advanced to the Super Eight after defeating Nepal in the ongoing T20 World Cup held in the West Indies and the USA.
Bangladesh won by 21 runs in the match at St. Vincent in the West Indies.
Chasing the target of 107 runs set by Bangladesh, Nepal was all out for 85 runs in 19.2 overs. Nepal needed 22 runs from the last 12 balls. Mustafizur Rahman bowled a maiden over and took the wicket of the set batsman Dipendra Singh Airee on the last ball of his over. With 22 runs needed in the final over, Shakib Al Hasan took two wickets in two balls to end Nepal’s innings.
For Nepal, Dipendra Singh Airee scored 25 runs from 31 balls with the help of 2 fours and 1 six. Kushal Malla scored 27 runs off 40 balls, including 1 four and 1 six. Malla and Airee shared a 52-run partnership in 58 balls for the sixth wicket but could not avoid defeat.
Opener Aasif Sheikh scored 17 runs off 14 balls with the help of 4 fours. Nepal’s top order struggled, with opener Kushal Bhurtel scoring 4 runs from 8 balls, Anil Sah scoring 0, and Rohit Paudel and Sundeep Jora scoring 1 run each.
Nepal lost 5 wickets for just 26 runs in 7 overs. The 52-run partnership between Dipendra and Kushal for the sixth wicket offered some resistance.
Tanzim Hasan Sakib took four wickets, and Mustafizur Rahman took three wickets for Bangladesh. Tanzim, who took all four wickets in his first spell, conceded only 7 runs in 4 overs, including 2 maidens.
Earlier, the Bangladeshi batsmen, who batted first after losing the toss, struggled against the Nepalese bowlers and managed only 106 runs before being all out in 19.3 overs.
For Bangladesh, Shakib Al Hasan scored 17 runs off 22 balls, and Jakar Ali scored 12 runs. Mahmudullah scored 13 runs, while opener Litton Das scored 10 runs.
For Nepal, Sompal Kami, captain Rohit Kumar Paudel, Dipendra Singh Airee, and Sandeep Lamichhane took two wickets each.
In this match, Nepal’s Sandeep Lamichhane completed 100 wickets in T20Is. Sandeep achieved this milestone in 54 matches, becoming the first player for Nepal to take 100 T20I wickets and the second fastest in the world to reach this mark after Rashid Khan, who did it in 53 matches.
After defeating Nepal, Bangladesh has entered the Super Eight.
Nepal remains winless, having lost to the Netherlands in their first match. Their match against Sri Lanka was abandoned due to rain, and they lost to South Africa by 1 run.
