REPUBLICA
KATHMANDU, Aug 18: Nepal is only a step away from lifting the ACC U-16 Premier title after it crushed Bahrain by 186 runs in Malaysia on Monday for its fourth win in a row.
Nepal will be crowned champion if it defeats or shares points with host Malaysia in its fifth and final match of the tournament on Wednesday. Malaysia trails Nepal by one point in the points table.
The ACC U-16 Premier is the only age-group cricket tournament Nepal has not won so far.
Nepal’s U-16 cricketer Pranit Thapa with the man-of-the-match trophy after helping his team defeat Bahrain by 186 runs in the ACC U-16 Premier cricket tournament in Malaysia on Monday. (Photo Courtesy: Acc)
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, Nepal posted a total of 233 runs losing eight wickets in the allotted 40 overs, with Pranit Thapa Magar scoring the highest 70 runs.
The opening pair of Sushant Singh Thapa and Mohammad Asif Sheikh gave Nepal a good start with a 35-run stand before Asif (8) was dismissed by Maed Mohammed in the eighth over. Sushant fell as Nepal’s second wicket in the 11th over after making 29 runs off 37 balls.
Rabi Chanda, who made 33, was involved in the highest, 61-run stand with Rabindra Jung Shahi (23 runs off 35 balls).
Nepal had lost its first five wickets by 23.3 overs with only 121 runs on the board, but it was man-of-the-match Pranit who rescued his team with some aggressive batting. He shared the second-highest partnership of 57 runs with Pawan Sarraf (20 runs).
Pranit, who remained unbeaten on 70 runs, smashed a six and seven fours in his 60-ball knock.
Defending a target of 234 runs, Nepali bowlers also gave impressive performances to skittle Bahrain for just 39 runs in 24.4 overs. Anil Kharel, the team’s youngest member, bagged the highest three wickets giving away only eight runs in his five overs, which includedtwo maidens. Anil dismissed three batsmen for a duck.
Rijan Dhakal sent opener Mohammed Haris (4) back to the pavilion to give Bahrain a big blow in the first over with only four runs on the board. Ashish Pokharel bagged two important wickets of Abdul Ahad (7) and Bharath Srinivasan (21), Bahrain’s top scorer. Ashish gave away only seven runs in his five overs spell with two maiden overs. Five Bahrain batsmen failed to open the score.
Likewise, Pawan, Jitendra Singh Thakuri and Sumit Maharjan claimed a wicket each. Meanwhile, host Malaysia defeated Singapore by four wickets on Monday for its third win in the tournament.
After Monday’s results, Nepal leads the standings with eight points and Malaysia has seven points from four matches.