Out First Ball, Then Four Wickets: Kushal Bhurtel's Strange, Perfect Day as Nepal Topple Afghanistan

There are days when a cricketer's scorecard reads like two different people. Kushal Bhurtel walked out to open Nepal's chase on Friday in Nisshin and was caught off the second ball of the innings for nought. By then, though, he had already done his real work. Earlier in the afternoon he had bowled four overs of part-time spin for 4 for 21, including two lbws off consecutive balls, and turned Afghanistan's innings from a slow rebuild into a total nobody could defend.

Afghanistan chose to bat and made 102 for 7. Nepal lost four wickets by the halfway mark of the chase, two of them run-outs, but Rohit Paudel stayed until the end with 33 from 32 balls. Nepal won by five wickets with 16 balls to spare. The result was not exactly a shock. This Afghanistan squad had rested every big name, and our preview called Nepal the favourites. But an associate side beating a Full Member at a multi-sport Games still means something, and Nepal earned it with the ball.

Left-arm spinner Lalit Rajbanshi set the tone. He bowled Hassan Eisakhil in the first over, had Mohammad Akram caught by Lokesh Bam in the third and bowled Karim Janat in the fifth. Afghanistan were 16 for 3 after 4.1 overs and 19 for 3 at the end of the powerplay. Rajbanshi's four overs went for 13 runs. On a slow Nisshin surface, that set the ceiling for the whole innings.

Faisal Khan Ahmadzai and Najibullah Zadran rebuilt with 39 from 50 balls. It was careful work, but it left no room to accelerate. Then captain Rohit Paudel turned to Bhurtel. Faisal was caught by Airee at 55 in the 13th over. In the 15th, Bhurtel trapped Mohammad Ishaq and Darwish Rasooli lbw off successive balls, and Afghanistan were 65 for 6. Najibullah and Nangeyalia Khan added 30 from 26 balls before Bhurtel had Najibullah caught off the last ball of the 19th over, and Afghanistan scraped to 102. Sandeep Lamichhane went wicketless but conceded only 18 from his four. Nepal's spinners bowled 19 of the 20 overs and took all seven wickets.

The chase was less comfortable than the margin suggests. Bhurtel's second-ball duck and Aasif Sheikh's early exit made it 12 for 2. Kushal Malla and Sundeep Jora were both run out, the second of them to Darwish Rasooli and keeper Mohammad Ishaq, and Nepal were 56 for 4 at halfway. They still needed 47 from 60 balls. Paudel and Dipendra Singh Airee then put on 46 from 43 balls without taking a risk they did not need to. Airee fell with one run needed, and Gulsan Jha got off the mark with the winning run.

Afghanistan's batting has now made 129 and 102 in two games. Against Japan the lower order rescued them. Here, the top three made 11 between them and the recovery never got going. The problem was not recklessness. Najibullah's 30 took 40 balls, and nobody found a way to hit Nepal's spinners off their length. Without the names they rested for this event, this is a batting order still learning how to score on slow pitches.

The bowling gave them a chance. Faridoon Dawoodzai struck with the second ball of the chase, and Arab Gul followed his 4 for 8 against Japan with 3.2 overs for 13. The two run-outs showed a side that was fighting in the field. But 102 left no margin for error, and Nepal's middle order had the patience the Afghan batting had lacked.

For the second day running, Korogi Sports Park did not allow big scores. Both powerplays were modest: 19 for 3 and 29 for 2. There were only three sixes in the match. Spin controlled it: Nepal's slow bowlers had combined figures of 19-1-89-7. Afghanistan's own quick men, Nangeyalia Khan (4-0-30-0) and Karim Janat (3-0-25-0), were the most expensive bowlers on the day. On this ground, a total of 130 looks like a good score, and 102 was about 25 short.

The Asian Games do not award a Player of the Match, but Bhurtel's spell was the one that decided the game. He is known as an opening batter, and his 340 runs in the qualifier were why we named him as Nepal's player to watch. Here he took four wickets with the ball instead. The lbws of Ishaq and Rasooli off consecutive balls in the 15th over were the turning point: 55 for 3 had become 65 for 6, and Afghanistan were not going to reach 130.

His duck in the chase is a reminder that cricket rarely gives a player the day they expect. But his captain will remember the 4-1-21-4, and so will Afghanistan.

Our preview called this "the rare match where the associate nation enters as the likely favourite", and Nepal won. We named Bhurtel as the man Afghanistan had to contain in the powerplay. They did, by dismissing him for a second-ball duck. What we did not see coming was that his bowling would be the difference. We also expected Lamichhane's spin to be central. The spin was central, but it was Rajbanshi and Bhurtel who took the wickets, not Lamichhane. Our Afghanistan pick, Ismat Alam, was not in the XI.

Group A is now wide open. Nepal have one win from one match, and Afghanistan have one win and one defeat. Japan play Nepal on September 26. A Nepal win would put them top and knock Japan out. A Japan win would leave all three teams on one win each, with net run rate deciding the two quarter-final places. Afghanistan's 48-run win over Japan gives them some protection there. Whoever goes through will face one of the seeds, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka or Bangladesh, and that is a very different test. Unlock CricIntel Pro for Asian Games cricket analysis.