Nepal Vs Maldives, Asian Games 2023, Men's Cricket, Match 7: Nepal Thrash Maldives By 138 Runs In The Must-win Clash - As It Happened

After the high of their previous match against Mongolia, Nepal's batters Kushal Malla and Dipendra Singh Airee smashed a bunch of T20 international records. The Maldives also defeated Mongolia comprehensively in their opening Group A match. But on Sunday, Kushal Malla and Captain Rohit Paudel set the tone in the batting, resulting in a massive target of 213 runs for the Maldives to chase. Maldives got off to a bad start with early wickets and could not get back on track. Abinash Bohara claimed 6 wickets in his spell and helped Nepal seal the match. Catch cricket scores and key highlights of the NEP vs MDV, Group A match here. (Scorecard | Match Report| Full Coverage | Cricket News)

Nepal won the match by 138 runs

Maldives lose by 138 runs
Maldives' tail batted well enough but could not put more runs on the board as Maldives lost the match by 18 runs and was knocked out of the tournament. Bohara scalps 6 times as his bowling figures were 3.4-0-11-6.

MDV - 74/10 (19.4)

Maldives looking to play full overs
Maldives batters have gone out very cheaply but the middle and lower order is looking to play all 20 overs quota despite the defeat. 

MDV - 69/7 (17.2)

Nepal Bowlers Putting Pressure
Nepal bowlers have managed to put Maldives batters under pressure, not giving any chances to them. Maldives still need 181 runs in 60 balls with a required run rate of over 18. It is just a matter of time for Nepal.

Maldives Struggling
Maldives innings are shattering in Hangzhou as wickets after wickets are falling and nothing seems working for the Maldives batters. Nepal bowlers are bowling well and not giving extra runs. Bohara has taken 3 wickets and other bowlers also putting pressure on the Maldives batters. 

MDV - 32/6 (10)

Azin Rafeeq Departs, Early wicket for Nepal
Maldives started the chase, but Nepal bowlers bowled tight lenghts and managed to take the wicket of Azin Rafeeq on the 2nd ball of the 1st over.

MDV - 1/1 (0.2)

Maldives Innings starts!

Target set for Maldives - 213 runs (20 overs)

Innings Break!

Kushal Malla and Rohit Paudel set the tone of the Nepal innings. Malla 47*(20) and Paudel 52(27) helped the score to reach past 200 in a must-win game. Airee also hit a 6 on the first delivery he faced. 

NEP - 212/7 (20)

Kushal Malla shows fireworks
Just as he entered the ground, Kushal Malla started smashing the bowlers all over the ground scoring 16 runs off the first 5 balls he faced with 2 sixes and 1 four in it. The pair smashed Rasheed Rassam for 21 runs in his first over of the match.

NEP - 158/5 (16)

Gulsan Jha Departs
After scoring a quick 35(21) Gulsan gave Tholal his wicket. He scored 3 sixes and 1 four in his innings. Rohit is now accompanied by Malla on the crease.

NEP - 137/5 (15)

Rohit and Gulsan took score par 100
Rohit Paudel and Gulsan Jha are making a partnership on the crease with boundaries in between. Rohit 23*(14) and Gulsan Jha15*(15) are taking Nepal's innings to a good score.

NEP - 105/4 (13)

Captain Paudel with Gulsan on the crease
Captain Rohit Paudel is accompanied by Gulsan Gha on the crease to stick out the team from the crunching situation. With Airee still out to bat, Nepal have batting options available to them. Need to score quick runs now.

Brilliance of Ismail
Nepal's batting order is looking to crash down after Nazwan Ismail took 2 quick wickets and put Maldives in a better position. Nepal struggling.

NEP - 70/4 (10)

Azin Rafeeq leaks run this time
Hero of Maldives' last match, Azin Rafeeq has proven costly, leaked runs so far. In his 2 overs, he has conceded 23 runs with an economy of 11.5. Mohammed Miuvan has given 15 runs in his first over.

Kushal Bhurtel Smashing
Kushal Bhurtel has taken the responsibility to make quick runs. He is smashing boundaries one after another. Bhurtel is batting on 30*(15).

NEP - 47/1 (5)

Aasif Sheikh Departs
Nepal lose their first wicket as Aasif gave a simple catch to Fareed Shius on Naail Naseer's bowl.

NEP - 28/1 (3.2)

Good Start by Nepal
Nepal batters Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh have started the Nepal innings on a good note. In Maldives bowler Naail Naseer's over, the pair have managed 8 runs to kickstart the innings.

NEP - 8/0 (1)

Toss Update: Nepal have won the toss and elected to bat first

Teams:

Maldives (Playing XI): Ismail Ali, Azin Rafeeq, Hassan Rasheed(w/c), Nazwan Ismail, Fareed Shius, Muawiyath Ghanee, Hussain Sadhin, Mohamed Miuvan, Naseer Naail Ismail, Rasheed Rassam, Ryan Tholal

Nepal (Playing XI): Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh, Kushal Malla, Rohit Paudel(c), Dipendra Singh Airee, Binod Bhandari(w), Sundeep Jora, Gulsan Jha, Sompal Kami, Abinash Bohara, Sandeep Lamichhane

Squads
Maldives: Ismail Nazuwan, Mohamed Miuvan, Mohamed Sulaiman, Muawiyath Ghanee, Azin Rafeeq, Fareed Shius, H Sadhin, Ibrahim Nashath, N Naseer, Hassan Rasheed, A Mouroof, Ibrahim Ali, Rasheed Rassam, Rayan Tholal, Shunan Ali.
Nepal: Rohit Kumar Paudel, Sundeep Jora, Kushal Bhurtel, Pratis GC, Bibek Yadav, Dipendra Singh Airee, Kushal Malla, Asif Sheikh, Binod Bhandari, Karan KC, Gulshan Kumar Jha, Lalit Rajbanshi, Sompal Kami, Sandeep Lamichhane, Abhinash Bohara

The group stage features nine teams in three groups -- The Maldives, Mongolia and Nepal (Group A); Cambodia, Hong Kong and Japan (Group B); Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand (Group C). The three group toppers will proceed to the knockouts, where they will be joined by the continent's cricket heavyweights -- India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

Cricket was inducted into the Asian Games roster in 2010, at the Guangzhou Games. This was more than a decade after the sport last featured in a major multi-sport event at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. In Guangzhou, Bangladesh prevailed over Afghanistan to annex the gold medal, while Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka in the bronze play-off. Four years hence, Sri Lanka won against Afghanistan in the Incheon gold medal match, while Bangladesh set aside Hong Kong to take home the bronze.