KATHMANDU, Jan 30: Nepal has entered into the second round of the ICC U-19 World Cup after securing a win over Ireland in the match held at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium, at Fatullah in Bangladesh on Saturday.
Nepal secured a spot in the second round of the ICC U-19 World Cup after India also trounced its opponent New Zealand. India has defeated New Zealand by 120 runs at the world cup match held in Dhaka today.
Chasing the target of 132 runs set by Ireland, Nepal reached the target in 25.3 overs, losing two wickets. Yogendra Singh Karki topscored 61 runs studded with six fours off 81 balls, Aarif Sheikh made 31 runs including five fours off 36 balls while Sunil Dhamala contributed 28 runs off 35 balls to secure win for Nepal.
For Ireland, Joshua little and Gary McClintock took one wicket each giving away 17 and 21 runs respectively.
Electing to bat first after winning the toss, Ireland had made 131 runs losing nine wickets in allotted 50 overs.Harry Tector topscored 30 runs including one boundary off 54 balls, Jack Tector made 27 runs including two fours and one six off 52 balls while Adam Dennison contributed 21 runs for Ireland.
Nepal Ireland Day 2018 concludes successfully
In reply, Sandeep Lamichhane grabbed highest five wickets giving away 27 runs, Dipendra Singh Aire claimed two wickets conceding 18 runs while Sushil Kandel and Sunil Dhamala took one wicket each for Nepal.
India had defeated Ireland by 79 runs on Thursday while Nepal beat New Zealand by 32 runs to begin the world cup journey on a positive note.
In the earlier editions of the age-group world cup, both the teams had faced each other twice with both the teams winning a match each. In the 2006 world cup, Nepal had defeated Ireland by 60 runs while Ireland avenged Nepal by 14 runs in 2012.
Nepal is in group D along with New Zealand, three time champion India and Ireland in the tournament that had kicked off formally on Wednesday.
Nepal beat Ireland twice in the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers held in Malaysia last year. Nepal will take on India on Monday in its other group matches.
PHOTOS: RAMAN SHIWAKOTI/CAN
