KATHMANDU, Dec 17: Nepal has won the toss and elected to bat first in a title clash against Singapore in the ACC U-16 Eastern Region Cricket Tournament. Nepal overcame Malaysia by 72 runs in the semifinal encounter on Saturday.
The tournament’s final match between Nepal and Singapore, which beat Hong Kong by eight wickets in the other semifinal clash, has been held at Terdthai Cricket Ground (TCG), Bangkok.
In the first semifinal of the tournament held at TCG, Malaysia won the toss and chose to bat before Nepal made a total of 127-8 in 34 overs. Finalist Nepal then bowled out the Malaysian side for paltry 55 runs after Surya Tamang claimed four wickets for just 12 runs in seven overs.
Nepal couldn’t make a positive start to the innings with its openers Kushal Malla and Rajan Magar managing to create just a 11-run partnership for the first wicket. Malla made six runs while Magar scored 11 runs.
Third numbered batsman Bishal Kumar KC made 27-ball 15 in the match, where none of the Nepali batsmen managed to make an impressive score.
Captain Rit Gautam and Trit Raj Das made 11 and 13 runs respectively.
Pratis GC was the highest scorer for Nepal as he made 25 runs facing 22 deliveries while Sunil Bhandari and Narayan Joshi contributed 17 runs each for the team. Bhandari and Joshi created a 23-run partnership for the sixth wicket.
Mohammad Afiq was pick of Malaysian bowlers with the figures of 3-19 and he was supported by Aslam Khan Malik who added two wickets for the team. Likewise, Muhammad Amirul, Vijay Unni, and Shamsul Ikmal Shamsulazman bagged one wicket each.
Meanwhile, Sandesh Supparamaniam (16) was only batsman to make double figure for the Malaysian side. Muhammad Shahid Bin Adzli (8) and Muhammad Amirul (8) were two other batsmen to make notable contributions for the low scoring Malaysian team.
Pratis GC picked three wickets for Nepal whereas Ajay Kumar Loniya and Kushal Malla added other two wickets.
In the third-place match, which will also be held on Sunday, Hong Kong and Malaysia will be battling at Asian Institute of Technology Cricket Ground.
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