Nepal defeated Hong Kong by seven wickets to claim a consolation victory in the ACC Emerging Teams Cup match at the Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium Academy Ground in Cox’s Bazar.

Nepali batsmen produced a solid performance with the bat to claim a comfortable victory against their Associates opponents.

Chasing a target of 215 runs, opener Gyanendra Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee and Sharad Bheswakar scored half-centuries in an easy victory. Malla (70) was the highest scorer for Nepal followed by Airee with a not out 60 and Bheswakar on 55. Jhatha Subraymanyan took two wickets for Hong Kong.

Earlier, losing the toss and batting first, Hong Kong skipper Anshuman Rath scored a half-century while opener Cameron McAuslan also hit 43 to take past the 200 mark in an inconsequential match. Avinash Karn took three wickets while Bhuwan Karki, Sushan Bhari and Gyanendra Malla claimed two wickets each. Sandp Lamichhane gave just 29 runs from his 10 overs with one wicket to his name.

Both Nepal and Hong Kong lost their opening two matches and were out of contention from reaching the semi-finals. Nepal had lost their opening match against Pakistan by six wickets followed by 83-run defeat against hosts Bangladesh.

Top two teams from each of the two pools qualify for the semi-finals. The  eight-team tournament features four U-23 Test-playing nations India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh along with ICC Associate members  Afghanistan, Nepal, Malaysia and Hong Kong.