Nepal suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Afghanistan in the final match of the ACC Trophy Elite 2010 tournament.

Chasing a moderate target of 225 runs set by Afghanistan in the match played at Hubara cricket ground, Kuwait on Friday, Nepal only managed to put up 129 runs with the loss of all its wickets as its batting lineup completely collapsed under relentless attack by Afghanistan bowlers.

Only Gyanendra Malla with his 30 off 43 balls and Sharad Veshwakar with his fighting 35 runs offered some resistance to Afghanistan's marvelous performance in the game.

Earlier, Nepal chose to field after winning the toss. Afghanistan was bowled out in the last over in the 50-over match. Binod Das took three wickets for Nepal while Paras Khadka and Rahul BK contributed with two wickets each.

For Afghanistan, K. Sadiq made 58 runs, R. Ahmadzai 52 and M. Nabi added 48 runs.

Nepal had been in excellent form in the tournament. It beat Malaysia to enter the final of the tournament on Wednesday.

This is the second defeat Nepal has suffered in the final of the ACC Trophy Elite tournament. In 2002, it had tasted defeat at the hands of UAE in the final match. Nepalnews.com