Nepal enter U-16 final, to meet Malaysia for title
Nepal entered the final of the ACC U-16 Eastern Region Tournament with a four-wicket victory over Hong Kong at the Prem Tinsulanonda International School ground in Chiang Mai, Thailand on Saturday.
Nepal entered the final of the ACC U-16 Eastern Region Tournament with a four-wicket victory over Hong Kong at the Prem Tinsulanonda International School ground in Chiang Mai, Thailand on Saturday.
Man-of-the-match Nikhil Kumar Singh picked up four wickets in an economical bowling display as Hong Kong were bundled out for just 86 runs in 32.2 overs. Nepal didn’t have big contributors in the game before they reached 87-6 in 21.4 overs. In the final on Sunday, Nepal will take on Malaysia.
Nepal had beaten Malaysia by 39 runs in their Group ‘A’ match. Malaysia, however, have bounced back in the tournament sweeping aside Singapore who had won Group ‘B’ winning all their three league matches.
In their semi-final match on Saturday, Bishal Kumar Patel pushed Hong Kong to the back foot picking up the first two wickets. Left arm spinner Ramesh Kumar Kurmi then tightened the screws in the middle overs and it was Singh who didn’t let Hong Kong play freely. Singh took 4-16 from 6.2 overs and Kurmi snared 2-14 from seven overs.
No 4 batsman Aarush Bhagwat was the only Hong Kong batsman to defy the Nepali bowling attack remaining unbeaten on an 83-ball 43 hitting all four boundaries his team could get in the match. None of the remaining batsmen managed to score runs in double figures for Hong Kong whose scorecard read four duck outs.
Opener Deepak Bohora (11) and Suwash Ayer (10) began with a 19-run partnership for the first wicket in Nepal’s reply before both fell in a space of 10 runs. No 3 Aaish Bhattarai top scored for Nepal with a 43-ball 17 hitting two boundaries. Nepal, however, were still not out of trouble after they were reduced 51-5 following the dismissals of Bhattarai, skipper Bishal Bikram KC (seven) and Prashant Mahat (one) in a space of seven runs.
Rohan Dudhraj BK played some big shots to ease the chase hitting a 12-ball 14 with three boundaries. Krish Karki (12 not out) and Singh (four not out) completed the chase for Nepal who are the defending champions of the tournament. Brij Narain Sheopuri took 3-20 from six overs for Hong Kong.
Summary
Nepal 87-6 in 21.4 overs (A Bhattarai 17, R BK 14; B Sheopuri 3-20, A Trivedi 2-22) beat Hong Kong 86 all out in 32.2 overs (A Bhagwat 43*, B Sheopuri 8; NK Singh 4-16, R Kurmi 2-14)
Adarsha Dhakal is a sports reporter for The Kathmandu Post. He has been reporting on sports for more than a decade, focusing on cricket, basketball and sports features. He has been with the Post for over five years and has worked for various other national publications.
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