Snehith Reddy completed his century as New Zealand posted a 303-run target for Nepal in their first match of the ICC Under-19 World Cup on Sunday.

Reddy ripped apart the Nepali bowling lineup, scoring not out 147 runs off 125 deliveries with 11 hits to the fence and six sixes to help New Zealand to propel to 302-8 at the match played at Buffalo Park, East London, South Africa.

Nepali bowlers took control of the match initially as they sent three batters to the pavilion within 14 overs. Tilak Bhandari bowled out opener Tom Jones in 10.1 overs at 33 runs. Subash Bhandari struck in 13.5 overs, taking the wicket of another opener Luke Watson at 14 runs. Oliver Tewatiya was out for a duck in 14.3 overs.

Reddy, however, steadied the innings for young Kiwis, sharing a commendable 157 runs partnership with Captain Oscar Jackson, who hit 75 runs.

Nepali bowlers struck again in the last 10 overs, taking quick three wickets. Jackson was bowled out by Aakash Tripathi in 41.5 overs. Lachlan Stackpole was sent back to the pavilion for a duck by Gulsan Jha in 42.2 overs. Zac Cumming was next to go for a golden duck in the next delivery. Alex Thompson contributed 13 off 14 balls before losing his wicket to Subash Bhandari in 47.3 overs.

For Nepal, Subash Bhandari grabbed three wickets as Gulsan Jha took two wickets. Dipesh Kandel, Tilak Bhandari and Aakash Tripathi took a wicket apiece.

New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first.

The young Rhinos are appearing at the World Cup for the first time in eight years. In their previous appearance in the 2016 edition in Bangladesh, Nepal had defeated New Zealand by 32 runs and Ireland by eight wickets to qualify for the quarter-finals alongside India from Group B. Nepal also defeated New Zealand in the plate final in the 2006 World Cup.

Nepal had locked horns with the test-playing nation Pakistan in the 2002 World Cup in Australia, where Nepal defeated Pakistan by 30 runs but could not progress from the group stage due to net run rate despite winning two games.

The two sides last met in the 2023 ACC U-19 Asia Cup in December last year in the United Arab Emirates. Nepal lost to Pakistan by seven wickets. Captain Dev Khanal’s men also lost to Afghanistan (by 73 runs) and India (by ten wickets) to exit the group stage of the Asia Cup winless.

Nepal play Pakistan on Wednesday before wrapping up their group stage against the other South Asian team Afghanistan on Friday.