Nepal will defend their title of the ACC U-16 East Zone Cup against Singapore in the final of the ongoing edition in Malaysia. The Nepal vs Singapore clash for the final was confirmed after the young Rhinos defeated the hosts and Singapore defeated Hong Kong in the semi-final matches on Thursday.

Nepal defeated Malaysia by nine wickets while Singapore defeated Hong Kong by four wickets in the other semifinal.

The final match for the championship will take place on Sunday. Nepal reached the final unbeaten in the tournament. Meanwhile, Singapore had advanced to the semifinals as the runners-up from the same group as Nepal.

Singapore, who lost to Nepal in the group stage by six wickets on June 22, secured their place in the final by chasing Hong Kong’s target of 169 runs in 38.5 overs. Hong Kong were bundled out in 43 overs.

In Thursday’s first match, Malaysia batted first against the visitors. They could only reach 91 runs in 43.1 overs against a formidable Nepali bowling.

In at seven, Muhammad Fathul Muin (38 off 71), and skipper, Deeaz Patro (10 off 32), were the only ones who scored in double figures for Malaysia.

Abhay Yadav led the attack with an excellent spell, finishing with figures of 4 for 15 runs from his 10-over bowling. He was ably supported by Shubham Khanal, who picked up 3 for 12 in 10 overs, including four maidens.

Malaysia could never recover from their early setbacks. They were reduced to 4/2 in the third over and kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Bipin Prasad Sharma and Sachin Bhatta took one wicket each, while Suyog Bhattarai bowled tightly, conceding just 25 runs in his nine overs.

Nepal’s tight lines, disciplined bowling, and sharp fielding effort ensured that Malaysia were never allowed to build any significant partnerships.

In turn, Nepal’s opener Parimarjan Yadav scored a brilliant half-century. Facing 35 balls, he remained unbeaten on 59 runs with the help of 5 fours and 5 sixes.

Coming in at number three, Shivansh Bajgain also contributed an unbeaten 23 runs, hitting five boundaries. Earlier, opener Prashiddha Jaishi was dismissed for just 2 runs after facing 16 balls.

Nagishwaran Sathkumaran took the only wicket for Malaysia.