New Delhi:
Paras Khadka, the captain of the Nepal cricket team, created history on Saturday as he became the first player from the country to hit a century in Twenty20 Internationals as Nepal defeated Singapore by nine wickets at the Indian Association Ground in Singapore. Khadka has already achieved plenty of firsts in his international career while playing for Nepal and this achievement is the latest. This was a good result for Nepal following their loss in the first match against Zimbabwe by five wickets after being in a good position to win the game.
Singapore won the toss and chose to bat and despite losing Roshan Rangarajan cheaply, captain Tim David and Surendran Chandramohan revived the innings. Chandramohan fell for 35 but David found an able ally in wicketkeeper in Manpreet Singh as Singapore crossed 100. David smashed a fifty and his knock included three fours and four sixes but Sandeep Lamichhane bowled economically to finish with 0/18 from his four overs. KC Karan with two wickets and Sushan Bhari took the wicket of Chandramohan as Singapore ended on 151/3.
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In response, Nepal lost Ishan Pandey early but from that point on, it was the Khadka show. The Nepal skipper blasted two fours and a six off Vinoth Bhaskaran and Aarif Sheikh gave him good support. The partnership progressed at a good rate, with Khadka hammering two more sixes off Anantha Krishna. Krishna took more pain from Khadka as the Nepal skipper hammered two more sixes.
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Khadka neared his century with two fours and a six off Sidhant Singh and he notched up his maiden century in style by lofting his opposite counterpart David for a big six. The knock came off 49 balls and fittingly, Khadka ended the match and gave Nepal victory by nine wickets by smashing a four off Aryaman Sunil. The next match will take place between Singapore and Zimbabwe and the tri-serie will conclude on October 3.
