KATHMANDU, July 13: Nepal U-19 cricket team has concluded its preparation for the 2018 ICC U-19 World Cup Division 1 Asia Qualifier with a 68-run defeat to Noida XI on Thursday.
The Nepali youth team which will leave for Singapore on Saturday to take part in the qualifier, played a total of five practice matches in India registering three wins, one defeat while the other was washed out by rain, during its more than two weeks stay in India.
Nepali team under coach Binod Das defeated Friends Sports Academy by 121 runs in the first practice match while it registered wins of 249 runs and 60 runs over Gurugram Sports Club and RP Singh Academy respectively.
Meanwhile, the clash between Nepali U-19 team and Noida XI on Tuesday was washed out but on Thursday, the visiting team lost to the same opponent.
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At Shaheed Vijay Pathik Sports Complex, Noida XI won the toss and opted to bat first before making a total of 234 runs losing eight wickets in the allotted 50 overs. In reply, Nepal U-19 was bowled out for 166 runs losing all wickets in 42 overs.
Unbeaten Tanmay Srivastava scored highest 120 runs off 149 balls that included three sixes and seven boundaries for the winning team. Raahul Yadav stroked 33 runs hitting one six and five fours facing 22 balls. Likewise, Anureet Singh and Nimit Saini contributed 28 and 17 runs respectively.
Kishor Mahato and Pawan Sarraf claimed two wickets each while Rohit Kumar Paudel, Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi and Shahab Alam took one wicket each.
Meanwhile, only four batsmen touched double digit for Nepali team. Dipendra Singh Airee was the highest scorer for Nepal as he stroked 55 runs with the help of two sixes and two boundaries facing 68 balls while Sandeep Sunar made 36 runs. Prakash KC and Aasif Sheikh struck 31 and 10 runs respectively while none other Nepali batsmen touched double digit.
Noida XI's Anureet Singh, Nimit Saini and Harshit Sethi claimed two wickets each while Ravi Singh, Gaurav Singh and Parwinder Awana pocketed one wicket each.
Meanwhile, Nepal will kick off the qualifier to be held in double round robin league format, facing host Singapore on July 17 and will compete with same team on July 21. Similarly, Nepal will take on Malaysia on July 18 and 24. In other fixtures Nepal and Afghanistan will compete on July 20 and 25. Team at top of the league will book its place in the 2018 Under-19 World Cup to be held in New Zealand.
