Nepal registered their first victory in the Asia Cup Qualifiers defeating hosts Malaysia by 19 runs on Saturday.

In the match played at the Bayuemas Oval stadium in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, Malaysia finished on 169/9 chasing 189-run target.

Basanta Regmi took three wickets for Nepal while Sandeep Lamichhane and Sompal Kami claimed two each. Anwar Arudin and Syed Aziz both scored 34 runs each, the top score by a Malaysian batsmen.

Earlier, losing toss and batting first Dipendra Singh Airee (54) and Aarif Sheikh (64) both scored half-centuries as Nepal overcame a poor start to post 188 runs for the loss of seven wickets. The match was reduced to 30 overs each due to bad weather.

Syazrul Idrus and Sharvin Muniandy claimed three wickets each while Muhammad Anwar took one wicket.

Though Nepal won this match, their journey in the tournament will not be an easy one. Not only do they have to win all their remaining matches convincingly, they also have to rely on the performances of other participating teams.

Source: ekantipur Daily Newspaper