SATV Kathmandu, Aug 17: Nepal suffered a defeat in the opening match of the Top End T20 Series in Darwin, Australia. On Friday in Darwin, the home side Northern Territory (NT) defeated comprehensively Nepal by 42 runs.

Chasing a target of 178 set by NT, Nepal 135 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in their allotted 20 overs.

For Nepal, Kushal Malla top-scored 34 runs off 26 balls, Gulshan Jha contributed 26 runs off 10 balls, and captain Rohit Kumar Paudel made 23 runs off 21 balls, while the rest of the batting lineup fell cheaply.

In bowling, NT's Matt Hammond took 3 wickets.

After winning the toss, Nepal opted to field first, and NT posted 177 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. D'Arcy Short top-scored with 51 runs off 34 balls, while Tom Andrews remained unbeaten on 32 runs off 26 balls.

For Nepal, Sandeep Lamichhane claimed 3 wickets for 38 runs in 4 overs. Sahab Alam took 2 wickets, and Rupesh Singh, Dipendra Singh Airee, and Gulshan Jha took 1 wicket each.

The series features Australia's Big Bash Academy team, along with Pakistan and Bangladesh 'A' teams.

Nepal will next face Bangladesh 'A' on Saturday, Melbourne Stars Academy on Monday, Melbourne Renegades Academy on Wednesday, and Pakistan Shaheens next Friday.

Nepal is in Australia preparing for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia and East Asia-Pacific Qualifier in Oman this October.

Following the series, the Nepal Cricket Association (CAN) stated that the team will continue training in Australia for another week.

Nepal is scheduled to play four T20 matches against Cricket ACT (two on August 26) and South Australia (two on August 28), followed by a one-day match against South Australia on August 30.

After the Australia tour, Nepal will play a three-match T20 series against the West Indies in the UAE in September.

Nine teams, including Nepal, will compete in the Asia and East Asia-Pacific Qualifier, with the top three teams earning qualification for the ICC T20 World Cup in India next year.