Left-arm spinners Nischal Pandey and Sushan Bhari Shrestha shared seven wickets to bowl out Hong Kong for 88 runs in 35.4 overs. Pandey returned with 4/6 in 6.4 overs while Bhari grabbed 3/22 in 8 overs. They overshadowed a disciplined bowling performance from the pacers early on who made it difficult for Hong Kong to score. Hari Chaulagain and Bibek Chaudhary took a wicket each. [break]
Hong Kong´s captain Miten Rajesh Khatri scored 27 and opener Anshuman Raj got 18 runs. No other Hong Kong batsman scored in double digits.
Nepal also lost their opener Nischal Pandey (4 runs) in the fifth ball of the second over. However, Dipendra Chand scored unbeaten 38 with five fours from 47 balls to anchor the Nepali innings. Opener Sharad Khadka scored 14 runs while captain Swichan Shah scored 4 and Sanam Shrestha added 9 runs for Nepal. Sushan Bhari Shrestha was not out on 3 runs as Nepal reached the target in 18.3 overs. Kinchit Shah claimed 3 wickets for the Hong Kong side while Simondeep Singh took a wicket.
Nepal´s coach Roy Luke Dias expressed delight over the victory. "Starting a tournament with a win is important but we have more matches to play," said Dias. "We have to improve our batting in the upcoming matches," added Dias.
Captain of the U-16 Nepali team Swichan Shah claimed that all-round performance by his team made the victory possible. "We bowled well and we batted equally well. We want to continue the winning momentum," said Shah.
Hong Kong coach Sher Bahadur Lama said his side could not handle the pressure in the low wickets of the TU Cricket Grounds. "We could not post enough total on the board and Nepal outplayed us in every department -- bowling, batting and fielding", said Lama.
Bahrain, Singapore also win
At the Pulchowk Cricket Grounds, Bahrain dominated Kuwait in their thumping victory. After choosing to bat first, Kuwait were bowled out for 111 in 21.4 overs. Bahrain lost three wickets on the way but won comfortably in 21 overs.
At the BSAM Grounds, Bhaktapur, Singapore defeated Malaysia by 53 runs.
Batting first, Ishaan Shekhar and Vikas Rajagopal each scored a half century as Singapore posted 194/9 in 40 overs. Rajagopal scored 56 while Shekhar hit 52.
Malaysia were bowled out for 141 in 35.2 overs with Shivam Ahuja taking 4/32 and Abhiraj Rajdeep Singh claiming 3/24. For Malaysia, Muhammad Ramli scored 33 and Amerul Hussein hit 30 runs.
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