Nepal ease to nine-wicket win

Nepal 198 and 34 for 1 beat Malaysia 132 and 99 (Alam 3-25) by 9 wickets
Scorecard

Nepal cruised to a comfortable nine-wicket victory against Malaysia in the ICC Inter-Continental Cup three-day match in Kathmandu. After taking a first-innings lead of 66, Nepal bundled out Malaysia for just 99 in their second innings, and then knocked off the 34 runs needed for the win in 7.1 overs.

Resuming their second innings on 3 for 1, Malaysia lost their top order cheaply to slump to 55 for 5. Matthew William (27) and Sarath Jayawardene (20) were the only batsmen to offer some resistance. For Nepal, Mehboob Alam was the most successful bowler, taking 3 for 25 from 12 overs. Alam was later declared joint Man of the Match with Shakti Gauchan, who had scored an unbeaten 69 in Nepal's first innings.

The win gave Nepal 27.5 points, taking their tally to 41.5 from two matches - they had earlier drawn their first match against UAE. Malaysia will clash against UAE in the last match of the Asian leg of the tournament from August 13-15 in Kuala Kumpur. Africa, Americas and Europe are the other continents participating, with three teams from each continent playing among themselves in a round-robin format. The winner from each continent will go through to the semi-finals, which will be held in Sharjah in November.