Nepal made 161-9 in 40 overs and bowled out the hosts for 129 runs in 36.2 overs.

Nepal’s capture of the elusive title also ended their five-year title drought in the age-group cricket since winning the ACC U-17 Elite in their own backyard in 2009. Nepal have won the U-19, U-17 and U-15 ACC titles in the past.

The victory in the competition among the top six U-16 associate members could not be sweeter considering that the Nepali squad was handpicked for the event at short notice. The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) could not organise a selection tournament due to budget crunch.  The U-16 achievement has also heralded a new era in the Nepali cricket allaying fears that Nepal’s stranglehold in the ACC age-group cricket was on the wane.

Senior national team coach Pubudu Dassanayake, who is set to arrive in Kathmandu from Canada on August 28, was all praise of the team: “It is wonderful to see Nepal win the U-16 title. It highlights Nepal’s talent pool, considering that they had very limited time to prepare for the event.”

Former national team skipper Binod Das expressed his feelings on his facebook status, writing: “Well done nepal u16 team … Thank you for the wonderful victory … keep it up ...”

Assistant coach Raju Basnyat hailed his team after the victory. “We played like a professional team. This is a great win for our team, they have worked hard in testing circumstances to prepare for this tournament and a lot of the players already have good futures in the game,” Basnyat told the ACC.  The Nepali colts seemed to have left all those misery behind, as they played like a well-oiled machine churning out one fine win after another, thanks especially to superb performances from the spinners. Right-arm off-break bowler Jitendra Singh and 13-year-old left-arm spinner Anil Kharel were at the heart of Nepali bowling attack, as the two shared 28 wickets  between them in five matches. With a haul of 15 wickets, Singh was adjudged the best bowler of the competition while Kharel won the most promising player for his 13 wickets.

While the social media were abuzz with comments on Nepal’s title win, national team skipper Paras Khadka was looking at a bigger picture. “Looking at the way how they prepared for the tournament, they deserve a huge respect. This could signal the rise of a new generation in Nepali cricket. This gives us a message that we need to build a strong domestic platform to shape Nepali cricket in a perfect way,” said Khadka.