Nepal defeated Hong Kong by six wickets to register their second victory in as many matches in the Nepal T20I Triangular Series at the Mulpani Cricket Ground in Kathmandu on Thursday.

Nepal sent Hong Kong to bat first and limited Nizakat Khan’s side to 94 all out in 19.3 overs, courtesy of pacer Karan KC who returned the match figures of 4-15.

KC struck in the first ball of the first over, clean bowling captain Khan and dismissed Anshy Rath in the third over to rattle Hong Kong’s top order.

Sompal Kami joined KC in the onslaught removing Martin Coetzee in the fourth over before KC got the prized wicket of Babar Hayat the next over to reduce Hong Kong for 15-4.

Hong Kong’s top scorer Yasim Murtaza offered some respite but he too could not cope with Nepal’s pace attack and fell to Abinash Bohara in the 17th over after making 36-ball 36.

Zeeshan Ali provided the second highest score for Hong Kong making 17. He was caught by Kushal Malla off Mousam Dhakal in the 14th over.

KC completed his four-wicket haul bowling out Haroon Arshad. Bohara and Kami then combined to dust off the tail to restrict Hong Kong to a low total.

In reply, Nepal’s top order struggled against Ehsan Khan’s spin, losing opener Kushal Bhurtel (8), Kushal Malla (1) and Sundeep Jora (3) cheaply.

But number two batter Aasif Sheikh scored 42 runs off 34 balls to set the tone for victory before captain Rohit Paudel’s 25 and Gulsan Jha’s quick-fire 5-ball 14 cruised Nepal to 99-4.

Nepal had defeated the United Arab Emirates by seven wickets in the opening match on Wednesday.

Nepal and Hong Kong will meet again on Saturday.

All three teams—Nepal, the UAE and Hong Kong—are playing the tri-series to fine-tune their preparation for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Asia Qualifier, which is scheduled to start in Kathmandu on October 30.

Nepal are pitted alongside Oman, Malaysia and Singapore in Group A of the Asia regional finals. The UAE, Hong Kong, Bahrain and Kuwait are placed in Group B.

The top two teams from each group advance into the semi-finals. The two finalists will qualify for the T20 World Cup to be co-hosted by the West Indies and the United States in 2024.

The UAE played the 2022 World Cup and were knocked out from group stage. The UAE had defeated Nepal by 68 runs in the semi-finals of the Global Qualifier A in Oman in February 2022 to qualify for the last edition of the World Cup in Australia.