Kathmandu: Nepal registered a commanding eight-wicket victory over Qatar in their opening match of Quadrangular Twenty20I Series in Mon Kok, Hong Kong on Wednesday.

Nepal chased the target in 17 overs scoring 154-2 after Qatar, put to bat first, posted 151-5 at the Mission Road Ground.

Nepal’s opening pair of Kushal Bhurtel (38 off 19 balls) and Aasif Sheikh (33 off 21 balls) created the base for victory putting up an 81-run partnership for the opening wicket.

Player-of-the-match Bhurtel cracked four hits to the fences and three sixes before he was bowled out by Mujeeb-ur-Rehman.

Left arm spinner Mujeeb-ur-Rehman also made Aasif caught by Arumugaganesh Nagarajan as the second wicket. Aasif smashed four maximums.

Captain Rohit Paudel and Basir Ahamad then played an unbeaten 62-run stand for the third wicket guiding Nepal to victory. Rohit contributed 37 runs-29 comprising two boundaries and a six while Basir hit 30 runs off 33. He hit two boundaries.

Earlier, Qatar captain Ikramullah Khan led from the front with a well-paced 54 off 54 balls to anchor the innings. He was dismissed by debutant Nandan Yadav.

Qatar had an early stutter, losing openers Rifayi Theruvath (6) and Arumugaganesh Nagarajan (13) cheaply within the first five overs.

However, a 47-run partnership between Ikramullah and Shahzaib Jamil (31 off 21) steadied  the innings. Jamil cracked four sixes.

Later contributions from Mujeeb-ur-Rehman (not out 20 off 19) and Mohammed Irshad (not out 18 off 7) gave Qatar the late flourish they needed, adding quick runs to push the total past the 150-run mark.

For Nepal, debutant Nanda Yadav, Karan KC, Sompal Kami, Gulsan Jha and Lalit Rajbanshi each chipped in with a wicket apiece.

Nepal will take on Kuwait on Thursday.