Nepal have been drawn in Group ‘A’ of the ACC U-19 Eastern Region cricket tournament which is the gateway to the ACC U-19 Asia Cup to be held in Sri Lanka later this year.

Malaysia are hosting the tournament from July 2-9. Only the winners will join seven other teams in the eight-nation Asia Cup to be participated in by five Test nations and three Associates. Asia Cup is slated for August 28 to September 8.

Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Afghanistan are the five Test teams, while the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have already made it through by wrapping up inside the top two of the Western Region tournament.

Nepal—who recently lost to the UAE in the Asia Qualifiers to lose the only available spot for the 2019 U-19 World Cup in South Africa—will play China, Myanmar and Singapore in Group ‘A’. The Group ‘B’ consists of hosts Malaysia, Bhutan, Hong Kong and Thailand. The top two finishers from each group will make it to the semi-finals.

Nepal will start their campaign with a match against tournament minnows Myanmar at the Selangor Turf Club on July 2 before taking on Singapore on July 5 at the Kinrara Oval. The third and final league match will be against China at the Bayuemas Oval a day later.

Nepal are the defending champions of the Eastern Region tournament having previously beaten Hong Kong by five wickets in the final, which was held in Malaysia in 2017. Ever since participating in the ACC U-19 Asia Cup, the best showing for Nepal was in the 2017 edition in Malaysia where the team entered the semi-finals beating India for the first time in any form of cricket.