KATHMANDU, April 25: Bowlers helped Nepal U-16 cricket team wrap up the win by 39 runs against Malaysia U-16 during the ongoing ACC U-16 Eastern Region Cricket Tournament in the second group match played at Prem Tinsulanonda International School Cricket Ground in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Wednesday. Nepal scored 141 runs batting first before dismissing Malaysia for 102 runs to secure its second win.
Prashant Mahat, Ramesh Kurmi and Tilak Raj Bhandari shared two wickets to dismiss Malaysia U-16 for 102 runs in 33.5 overs to secure second win in the second match of East Asia’s marquee age-level tournament. Prashant Singh and Nikhil Kumar Singh shared a wicket each whereas two Malaysian batsmen were run-out. Nepal skipper Bishal Bikram KC, the player of the match in the last match for his three-wicket-haul, was wicket-less in this match bowling three overs for 16 runs.
Malaysian skipper Sharveen Surendran top-scored for the loosing team with 46 runs from 80 deliveries including three boundaries. Similarly, opening batsman Kishan Kumar and Wan Ahmed Asyraf contributed 11 and 17 runs, respectively during the chase. Asyraf and Surendran shared a partnership of 53 runs for the sixth wicket to entertain a chance of chasing the total.
Jaya Ram, Budhha win
However, none of the other Malaysian batsmen was able to reach double figures conceding the match to Nepal.
Earlier, Nepal won the toss and elected to bat first. Ashish Bhattarai led the charge with bat scoring 34 runs from 42 deliveries bating at number three to stitch 53-run partnership with skipper Bishal in 58 deliveries. Bishal contributed 28 runs in the match off 30 deliveries which included two boundaries, whereas Bhattarai smashed five boundaries in the match.
Similarly, opening batsmen Arjun Kumal and Deepak Bohora scored 16 runs each from 25 and 47 deliveries, respectively. They shared a partnership of 37 runs for the first wicket in 62 deliveries. Likewise, middle order batsmen Nikhil and Suwash Ayer made 12 and 11 runs, respectively, to take Nepal’s score to 141 runs before losing all its wickets in 34.5 overs.
Malaysia’s Siddharth Karthik picked up four wickets in the first innings when Nepal was dismissed for a respectable total. Lokman Nur Hakim Sahar and Sachinu Hettige chipped in two wickets each.
Similarly, Mohammad Amirul Asraf and Ahmad Akmal Arif shared a wicket each.
Nepal had defeated Myanmar in the first match of the campaign by seven wickets in a match played at the same venue. Nepal will face Thailand on Thursday in its third match of the group stage.
