Nepal Vs Japan Highlights, ICC T20 WC East Asia Pacific Qualifier: NEP Recover From Early Wobbles, Chase 132 With Ease

Greetings and welcome to everyone joining us this Friday afternoon. We are back with another cricket blog, and this time it's Nepal taking on Japan for the top spot in Group B of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup East Asia Pacific Qualifier 2025. Watch this space for the build-up and live updates.

Japan: Kendel Fleming (c), Abhishek Anand, Eesam Rahman, Sabaorish Ravichandran, Ibrahim Takahashi, Benjamin Ito Davis, Declan Suzuki, Alexander Patmore (wk), Charles Hinze, Shoma Slater, Abdul Samad, Makoto Taniyama, Lachlan Lake, Wataru Miyauchi, Reo Sakurano Thomas

Nepal: Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh (wk), Rohit Paudel (c), Kushal Malla, Sundeep Jora, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulsan Jha, Sompal Kami, Nandan Yadav, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi, Lokesh Bam, Mohammad Aadil Alam, Shahab Alam, Karan KC, Aarif Sheikh

While we build up to the start of this encounter, India have marched to a really strong position on Day 1 of the second Test against West Indies. Yashasvi Jaiswal has surged to yet another hundred, his seventh in Tests already, while Sai Sudharsan is batting alongside him with an unbeaten fifty to his name.

The match starts at 4pm IST. The Nepal vs Japan, ICC T20 World Cup East Asia Pacific Qualifier game will be live streamed on the FanCode app and website in India. It will not be telecast on any TV channel in the country.

NEP captain Rohit Paudel has won the toss and opted to bowl first.

Japan (Playing XI): Kendel Fleming(c), Abhishek Anand, Eesam Rahman, Sabaorish Ravichandran, Ibrahim Takahashi, Benjamin Ito Davis, Declan Suzuki, Alexander Patmore(w), Charles Hinze, Reo Sakurano Thomas, Shoma Slater

Nepal (Playing XI): Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh(w), Rohit Paudel(c), Kushal Malla, Sundeep Jora, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulsan Jha, Sompal Kami, Nandan Yadav, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi

One can catch the live action of the NZ-W vs BAN-W, ICC Women's ODI WC match, right here.

Japanese openers Kendel Fleming and Abhishek Anand are at the crease and will look to give their side a positive start against the NEP bowlers.

Well JPN have lost an early wicket in the form of Abhishek Anand via run out. The Samurai batter has to go back after Dipendra Singh Airee runs out the batter. NEP strike early.

JPN 16/1 (4.0)

Kendel Fleming looks solid at the crease and his wicket will be the key for the JPN side against NEP. He has scored 14 runs off 18 deliveries.

JPN 24/1 (5.0)

Nepal's most vital bowler Dipendra Singh Airee is eyeing wickets and JPN have to be vary of that. Moreover, there' still a lot of spin bowling to come most notably Sandeep Lamichhane.

JPN 32/1 (6 Overs)

Kendel Fleming is looking great at the crease as he looks to fire JPN towards a big score. The Japanese skipper is taking no for an answer as he takes down the NEP spinners with ease.

JPN 48/1 (8 Overs)

JPN are 70/1 in 10 overs and another good few overs, could take them to a respectable total. Fleming's wicket will be key for Nepal if they are to get back in the game.

JPN 70/1 (10 Overs)

A captain's knock as Kendel Fleming brings up his half-century off 41 deliveries. A vital knock against an experienced Nepali bowling attack. A few more hits and JPN could have a big score on the board.

JPN 79/1 (11 Overs)

Japan are 97/2 and Kendel Fleming is looking assertive at the crease. With seven overs remaining, some lusty blows at latter end, could see JPN set up a big score.

JPN 97/2 (13 Overs)

Japan have lost 4 wickets in 4 overs and this can be a turning point of the match, Nepal are back into the contest, thanks to the bowlers.

JPN 109/6 (17 Overs)

Benjamin Ito-Davis is showing his power. He hit a four in the 18th over and a six in the 19th over. He's helping the team to put up a fighting total against a comparatively more experienced team, Nepal.

JPN 126/6 (19 Overs)

Not a kind of ending Japan would've thought of. They were 97/2 in 13 overs and lost 6 wickets since then, managing to score only 34 runs in 7 overs. Benjamin Ito-Davis was the only batter who showed intent in the end but didn't get enough support from other batters. We'll back with Nepal chase.

JPN 131/8 (20 Overs)

We're back with Nepal chasing a modest target of 132 runs. There shouldn't be any problem while chasing, considering the kind of experience Nepal batters have, especially after beatin West Indies recently.

JPN 131/8 (20 Overs)

Nepak openers have started great with Kushal Bhurtel leading the charge with 21 runs. Aasif Sheikh is also doing well with 10 runs in 5 balls.

NEP 33/0 (4 Overs)

Here comes the first breakthrough for Japan and its Shoma Slater who strikes. He dismisses the good-looking Kushal on 21. However, Nepal have a great depth in their batting lineup.

NEP 36/1 (5 Overs)

A productive over for Nepal, as they add 6 runs to the total. Rohit Paudel moves to 12 off 14 balls, rotating the strike well, while Kushal Malla is at 2 off 3. However, they have lost 2 more wickets in 6 overs but they still very much in the game.

NEP 82/3 (11 Overs)

Nepal’s chase hits a bump as their captain fails to convert his start. Paudel looked set at 18 from 19 balls, but he misses the line, and Ravichandran gets one to nip back onto the pads. LBW given, Nepal lose their 5th wicket.

NEP 90/5 (12.2 Overs)

A steady over for Nepal as they add 11 runs, with Dipendra Singh Airee on 10 off 9 balls and Gulshan Jha at 16 off 13. The runs came through a mix of singles, a couple of twos, and a boundary, helping Nepal slightly recover after losing their 5th wicket.

NEP 116/5 (16 Overs)

Gulshan Jha seals the deal for Nepal. He smashes a six and a four in the 18th over. At one point, they were 90/5 and things were not looking good for the Nepal side but Dipendra Singh Airee and Gulshan remained calm and chased the target easily.

NEP 132/5 (18 Overs)

Nepal now have won two out two their matches and standing tall on no. 1 with 4 points. On the other hand, Japan, after winning their first clash against Kuwait, they have to suffer a 5-wicket loss to Nepal.

Thank You so much for joining us in the live coverage. Stay Tuned.

Till then, hop into our NZ-W vs BAN-W live coverage.