Nepal suffered a nine-wicket defeat against the hosts Pakistan in the first match of the Blind World Cup Cricket in Jinnah Stadium in Gujranwala on Tuesday.

Opting to bat first, Nepal compiled a respected 258-6 in 40 overs with Ramesh Bahadur Baniya and Padam Badaila scoring a half century each. Pakistan coasted to victory in just 19.1 overs with a magnificent century from opener Badar Munir.

Baniya and Badri Chaulagain gave Nepal a 105-run opening wicket stand before Badaila helped piled up more runs later on. Baniya, the B3 category player, was bowled  by Haroon Khan after scoring 59 runs while Chaulagain fell one run short of his half century. Apart from Baniya all other five Nepali cricketers were run out.

Badaila, also a B3 category player, was dismissed exactly on 50 which he scored off just 43 balls. Badaila was named the most valuable player of the match. The B2 category cricketer Khimananda Gaire chipped in with an unbeaten 30 runs while Bharat Thapa made not out 11.

However, Pakistan opener Munir made light of the 259-run target hitting 26 fours in his 57-ball 126. Man-of-the-match Munir retired hurt with Pakistan cruising towards victory at 177-1. Mohsin Khan and Amir Ashfaq completed the chase with relative ease. Khan remained unbeaten on 74 with nine hits to the fence while Ashfaq scored 46 not out.

Nepal fielded three B1 (totally blind) and B2 (partially blind) category players and four B3 (partially sighted) cricketers in the match. Nepal will take on Bangladesh in the next game on Wednesday. The six-team tournament will see top four team qualify for the semi-finals after the league matches.