Lalit Rajbanshi, Kushal Bhurtel Spin Nepal to Five-Wicket Win Over Afghanistan

Nepal opened their Asian Games cricket campaign with a five-wicket victory over Afghanistan, riding on impressive spells from spinners Lalit Rajbanshi and Kushal Bhurtel.

After being asked to bat first, Afghanistan struggled against Nepal’s disciplined bowling attack and were restricted to 102 for 7 in their 20 overs. Rajbanshi struck three times during the powerplay, while Bhurtel finished with an excellent 4 for 21 from his four overs.

Afghanistan were in serious trouble at 16 for 3 in the fifth over, with Rajbanshi claiming all three wickets. Faisal Ahmadzai, making his T20I debut, and Najibullah Zadran then scored 30 each to help Afghanistan recover and post a competitive total.

However, Bhurtel returned to dismantle Afghanistan’s middle order, ensuring that no batter apart from Najibullah and Ahmadzai managed to cross the 20-run mark.

Nepal’s chase got off to a shaky start when Bhurtel was dismissed for a duck in the opening over. The hosts were further reduced to 31 for 3 by the seventh over, leaving the game finely balanced.

Sundeep Jora then played a crucial innings of 34 to steady the chase, while former captain Rohit Paudel remained unbeaten on 33. Paudel and Gulsan Jha guided Nepal across the finish line in the 18th over, with Nepal reaching 103 for 5 to seal victory with 16 balls to spare.

The result gave Nepal a winning start to their Asian Games campaign, while Afghanistan suffered their first defeat of the competition after opening with a victory over Japan.

Rajbanshi’s early breakthroughs and Bhurtel’s four-wicket haul proved decisive as Nepal’s spin attack set up a convincing opening win.