Aakash Tripathi and Bishal Bikram KC slammed a half-century each as Nepal made a flying start defeating Singapore by 96 runs in their Asia Regional Qualifier of the ICC U-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup campaign at the Eden Garden Oval in Ajman, United Arab Emirates on Friday.

Opting to bat first, Nepal posted 261-7 in their allotted 50 overs and restricted Singapore to 165-7 in its run chase.

Tripathi, who came in to bat at number three, cracked 78 runs off 100 balls while the middle-order batter KC smashed an unconquered 63 runs off 54 balls for Nepal. After losing opener Deepak Bohara for five runs, Tripathi and Arjun Kumal shared a 93-run partnership for the second wicket.

The player-of-the-match Tripathi, caught by Adwitya Bhargava off a Abhuday Chhajer delivery in the 34th over, slammed seven hits to the fence and a six. KC struck four boundaries and two sixes.

Captain Dev Khanal contributed a 26-ball 21, Dipak Bohara a 15-ball 17 and Dipak Prasad Dumre a 14-ball 10. Subash Bhandari remained unbeaten on 12 runs, facing eight deliveries.

Singapore bowlers Aryaveer Chaudhary and Abhuday Chhajer grabbed two wickets. Chaudhary conceded 53 runs in his 10-over spell while Chhajer gave away 63 runs in his nine overs of bowling.

Singapore struggled early on in the run chase and lost three top-order batters in quick succession before allrounder Abhuday Chhajer retired hurt when the scoreboard read 41-3.

Sidhant Srikanth and Aaryan Modi gave the much-needed stability to the Singapore innings, sharing an 82-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Modi was the top scorer of the innings, contributing 58 off 100 while Srikanth scored an 80-ball 44.

Srikanth hit a boundary and a six before Subash Bhandari had him caught by Milan Bohara as the fourth wicket in the 42nd over. Modi, who hit two boundaries, got run out two balls before the close of the innings.

Opener Arjun Nagpal (14 runs), and the retired hurt Chhajer (14 runs) were the other batters for Singapore to reach double-digit figures.

Nepali bowlers Hemant Dhami and Subash Bhandari claimed two wickets each. Dangi gave away 27 runs in his eight-over spell while Bhandari conceded 29 runs in his 10-over spell.

Nepal will play against Kuwait in their next match slated for Saturday.

The side finishing on top of the table among five teams including Hong Kong, Malaysia and UAE, will be eligible for the 2024 World Cup to take place in Sri Lanka.