In the first match between Nepal and Bangladesh since the 1996 ACC Trophy, Bangladesh have emerged victorious after Nepal failed to post a big enough score.
Put into bat by Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim, Nepal scored slowly throughout their innings. When Sagar Pun and Gayendra Malla both fell in quick succession in the seventh over, there were worries that the batting collapses that have sometimes plagued Nepal would reoccur.
But no collapse was forthcoming as Paras Khadka and Sharad Vesawkar were able to put on 85 for the fourth wicket before Khadka was out from the last ball of the 19th over, having scored 41.
Some good death bowling from Bangladesh kept Nepal from being able to post a challenging target. With Sharad Vesawkar on 40, Binod Bhandari was unable to get off strike in the final over, and Nepal only managed 126-5 from their 20 overs.
Bangladesh raced to the required target, with the opening pair of Tamim Iqbal and Anamul Haque putting on 63 in 7.5 overs before Iqbal was out for 30. Anamul Haque was run out for 42 soon afterwards.
Nepal were unable to instigate a collapse like they did against Hong Kong, and the third wicket pairing of Sabbir Rahman and Shakib Al Hasan put on an unbroken 53 to secure the eight wicket win. Al Hasan scored his runs very quickly, smashing 37 from just 18 balls.
A disappointing performance by Nepal in their first official game against a full member nation, but they certainly didn't disgrace themselves. They take on Afghanistan in their final group A game on Thursday morning.