Nepal secured a 40-run win against Hong Kong at the Emerging Teams Cup in Bangladesh’s Savar city on Saturday.

Hong Kong, after choosing to field first, could not adapt to the fierce Nepali bowling as they failed to chase a modest target of 218 runs. Hong Kong were bundled out for a paltry 117 in 45.5 overs. For Nepal, Karan KC and Abinash Bohara claimed three wickets each, while Sushan Bhari took two.

Wickets tumbled at regular intervals for Hong Kong as they found themselves reeling at 47-5 in the 11th over. However, a 62 run sixth-wicket stand between Kinchit Shah and Haroon Arshad (26) saved Hong Kong the blushes. When Arshad departed in the 29th over, Hong Kong still required 109 runs from 22.2 overs to win. Shah, the top scorer for Hong Kong completed his half-century, scoring 53 runs from 80 balls. He hit one six and three fours.

Hong Kong then lost two quick wickets within a span of just two runs. Shah was the first to go, caught by Binod Bhandari off Bohara with Aftab Hussain (1) following suit, leaving the chasing team in tatters at 119-8. Nasrulla Rana (10) was the ninth wicket to fall for Hong Kong. Ehsan Khan remained unbeaten on 44 as he added 42 runs with Raunaq Kapur (9) for the 10th wicket. In the end, Hong Kong fell short of the target, handing Nepal a comprehensive win.

Earlier, Nepal were bowled out for 217 runs. Skipper Gyanendra Malla's wretched run with the bat continued as he fell for a duck on the second ball of Nepal's innings. Prior to this game, Malla had failed to score in Nepal's first match of the tournament as well. The match was played against the India Under-23 team.

On Saturday, Nepal was clearly struggling in the second over when they were reduced to 2-3 after Kushal Bhurtel (1) made his way back to the pavilion.

The in-form Sharad Vesawkar, who had scored 44 runs against India U-23, then provided some respite for Nepal as he added 83 runs with Dipendra Singh Airee (37) for the third wicket. Vesawkar found another able partner in Aarif Sheikh and their fourth-wicket partnership produced 74 runs. Sheikh clubbed three sixes and three fours in his innings of 42 runs before being caught by Shahid Wasif off Ehsan Khan.

With Sheikh's departure, Nepal's scoreboard read 160-4 in 38.4 overs. Allrounder Pawan Sarraf, who scored a half-century in the previous match failed to make even a single run, while Bhandari made 15, leaving Nepal at 184-6 in the 42nd over. Nepal then lost three quick wickets as KC (7) and Bhari (6) could not stay long at the crease while Vesawkar was caught by Nizakat Khan off Aizaz Khan. Vesawkar was the top scorer for Nepal with 89 runs from 139 balls. His knock included nine fours.

Bohara (2*) remained unbeaten for Nepal while Lalit Rajbanshi (1) was run out off the last ball of Nepal’s innings. Aizaz Khan was the pick of the Hong Kong bowlers with three wickets. Rana and Ehsan Khan claimed two wickets each while Hussain and Kapur picked a wicket apiece.

Following their victory against Hong Kong, Nepal are now placed third in Group 'B' with two points from two matches. Nepal, which suffered a 23 run defeat to India U-23 in the first match also have Bangladesh U-23 in their group. Group 'A' consists of Pakistan U-23, Afghanistan U-23, Oman and Sri Lanka U-23. The top two teams of the groups advance to the tournament semifinals. Nepal would next play against Bangladesh U-23 on Monday.