KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 3

Nepal national cricket team faced a 23-run defeat against India in the T20 cricket tournament under the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou today, but not before putting up a brave show against the neighbouring powerhouse.

Batting first, India posted 202- 4 in their allotted 20 overs riding on a brilliant century from opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, while Nepal reached 179-9 in the quarter-final match at the Zhejiang University of Technology Cricket Field. Although Nepal could not make it to the semi-finals or win a medal, they recorded a number of T20I world records including the fastest half century, fastest century and highest total in their memorable outing ahead of the World Cup Qualifiers.

Coach Monty Desai was happy with the intent of his boys along with the positive mindset despite chasing a tough target. 'We are building our character to the brand of cricket we were talking about in T20,' Desai told reporters after the match. 'The fielding overall was good but there were a little bit of lapses. We could have saved some 10-12 runs and we could have crossed the line had we been chasing 190-195 runs. I am proud of everyone happy who has put an effort in today's game,' Desai added.

Nepal started the chase on a positive note with openers Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh putting up 29 runs on the board inside four overs. Sheikh hit one each four and six in his six-ball 10 before being caught behind by Sharma off Avesh Khan. Bhurtel and Kushal Malla added 33 runs for the second wicket before Nepal lost three quick wickets to be reduced to 77-4 in 11 overs.

Bhurtel departed after scoring 28 off 32 balls that included four boundaries and a six, while Malla - world's fastest centurion in T20 Internationals - hit two each fours and sixes in his 22-ball 29. Skipper Rohit Kumar Paudel (three) fell cheaply.

Dipendra Singh Airee, who scored a world record nine-ball half century against Mongolia last week, shared a 55-run partnership for the fifth wicket as Nepal sniffed victory against the Test nation. Airee struck four sixes in his 15-ball 32, while Jora scored a quick fire 29 off just 12 balls with the help of a four and three sixes.

Indian bowlers took control in the latter stage of the match but they could not dismiss Nepal.

Sompal Kami (seven), Gulsan Jha (six) and Sandeep Lamichhane (five) were all dismissed for single digits, while Karan KC remained unbeaten on 18 off just 13 balls that included a four and two sixes.

Avesh Khan (3-32) and Ravi Bishnoi (3-24) shared six wickets between them, while Arshdeep Singh grabbed 2-43 and Sai Kishore got one for India.

Earlier, Yashasvi Jaiswal hit the Nepali bowlers all over the park as he dominated the opening partnership of 103 runs with his skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (25).

Airee separated the pair in the fifth ball of the 10th over when he had Gaikwad caught by Nepal skipper Paudel. Sompal Kami bowled Tilak Varma (two) and Lamichhane took a return catch to dismiss Jitesh Sharma (five) as Nepal reduced India to 119-3 inside 13 overs.

Jaiswal - who reached 50 off 22 balls - completed his century with a single off Kami in the 17th over and finally Airee dismissed him for 100 off 49 balls that included eight boundaries and seven sixes. Shivam Sube and Rinku Singh added 52 runs for the unbroken fifth wicket and that came off just 22 balls. Singh remained unbeaten on 37 off just 15 balls with the help of two fours and four sixes, while Dube struck two fours and a six in his 19-ball 25 not out.

Apart from poor bowling in powerplay (first six overs) that yielded 63 runs and last four overs conceding 53 runs, Nepal's fielding was also not sharp in the match. Airee took 2-31, while Kami and Lamichhane grabbed one wicket each for Nepal.

In women's kabaddi, Nepal faced a 43-19 defeat against Iran in their second Group B match.

Nepal scored 11 points in the first half and added eight in the latter half in the match dominated by Iran. Nepal slipped to second place behind Iran in the threeteam table and they are favoured to make it to the semi-finals.

Defending champions Iran will face Bangladesh in the last group stage match on Wednesday and top two teams will earn berths in the last four.

Nepal, who defeated Bangladesh 37-24 in their debut Asia Games match on Monday, are likely to earn a medal in their first appearance in the Asiad as all four teams in the semi-finals are assured of medals.

In badminton, Rashila Maharjan advanced to the women's singles last 16. National champion Maharjan defeated Mongolia's Myagmartseren Ganbaatar 21-4, 21-7 in the Round of 32 match.

Nepal faced defeats in three other matches. Anu Maya Rai lost in straight sets against Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong in women's singles, while the pairs of Nita Lamsal/Nangsal Tamang and Rasila Maharjan/ Anu Maya Rai suffered defeats in the Round of 32 matches of women's doubles.

In weightlifting, Bikash Bhatta lifted a total of 265kg in the men's 81kg weight category. He tried to break his own national record twice but could not lift 125kg in snatch and 150kg in clean and jerk. He settled for 120kg in snatch and 145kg in clean and jerk. Bhatta holds the national records of 124kg in snatch and 148kg in clean and jerk for the total of 272kg.

In athletics, Phulmati Rana came sixth among seven participants in women's 800m heats.

She completed the race in two minutes and 22.59 seconds at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium. Another Nepali athlete Rajpura Pachai finished 12th in the women's 5,000m finals.

She recorded her personal best time of 17 minutes and 05.34 seconds, bettering her previous mark of 17:58.54. The 13th South Asian Games gold medal winner in the 10,000m race, Santoshi Shrestha also participated in the event but she could not complete the race. India, Japan and Kazakhstan claimed the top three medals in the event.

A version of this article appears in the print on October 4, 2023, of The Himalayan Times