Nepal stun Afghanistan as Bhurtel-Rajbanshi combine to take 7 wickets in low-scoring Asian Games 2026 encounter

In a low-scoring encounter at Korogi Sports Park, Nisshin, Nepal beat Afghanistan by five wickets. Kushal Bhurtel's four-fer and Lalit Rajbanshi's three-fer helped Nepal restrict Afghanistan for 102/7. Nepal lost early wickets but Sundeep Jora and Rohit Paudel's 30s helped them chase down the target with five wickets in hand and 16 balls to spare.

Afghanistan post below par total

Earlier, Afghanistan captain Darwish Rasooli won the toss and opted to bat first. Rajbanshi struck thrice with the new ball, dismissing Mohammad Akram, Hassan Eisakhil and Karim Janat. Faisal Shinozada and Najibullah Zadran tried to do damage control. But, scoring rate was not up to the mark.

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The pressure got to Shinozada and he was dismissed by Bhurtel. He scored 30 runs from 33 balls including two fours and a six. In his next over, Bhurtel dismissed Mohammad Ishaq and Rasooli as well. Afghanistan were 65/6 after 14.4 overs.

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Najibullah couldn't get going in slog overs and fell to Bhurtel in the penultimate over. He scored 30 runs from 40 balls. Nangeyalia Kharoti got Afghanistan over 100 with an unbeaten 15-ball 17. Afghanistan managed to post a below par score of 102/7 on the board.

Paudel, Jora lead Nepal to win 

Bhurtel couldn't make a mark with the bat and fell to Faridoon Dawoodzai for a two-ball duck. Then, Abdullah Ahmadzai dismissed Aasif Sheikh for a single-digit score. Nepal were 29/2 after powerplay overs. In the seventh over, Kushal Malla was run out for going for a risky single.

Jora looked to anchored the run chase. He was moving towards his half-century but was run out after a mix-up with Paudel. In the 10th over, he fell for a 35-ball 34 featuring three fours and a six. Paudel did not let Afghanistan apply pressure with slog overs approaching and found boundaries. In the 18th over, Arab Gul Momand got a consolation wicket of Dipendra Singh Airee. On the second ball of the over, Nepal finished the run chase.

Afghanistan yer to beat Nepal in T20Is

Despite the loss, Afghanistan stay at the top of the Group A points table as their net run rate (NRR) is slightly better than Nepal. This was the second T20I match between Afghanistan and Nepal. 12 years ago, Nepal had beaten Afghanistan in a T20 World Cup 2014 match. Afghanistan are yet to beat Nepal in a T20I game.