Nisshin, Sept. 25 -- Nepal defeated Afghanistan by five wickets in the preliminary group stage of the 20th Asian Games in Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Japan, on Friday.

Nepal defeated Afghanistan in a T20 match for the first time since 2014. Nepal beat Afghanistan by nine runs at the 2014 T20 World Cup in Bangladesh. Later that year, Afghanistan defeated Nepal by eight runs in the quarterfinals of the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.

Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first, aiming to post a defendable total. However, the Afghan batting order struggled against Nepal's bowling lineup.

The Rhinos were able to send the top three batsmen of Afghanistan-Hassan Eisakhil (0 off 2), Mohammad Akram (2 off 8) and Karim Janat (9 of...