KATHMANDU, Nov 12: Nepal has begun the ACC U-19 Youth Asia Cup with a two-wicket defeat against Bangladesh on Saturday.
Due to interruption from rain, the Group A match was revised to 43 overs. Bangladesh had won the toss and invited Nepal to bat in the match played at Kinrara Oval Cricket ground, in Malaysia.
However, rain halted the match again when Nepal had managed to score 167-6 in 40.1 overs.
Bangladesh was then given a revised target of 181 runs from 40 overs under the D/L method. Tigers reached the target with one ball remaining at the loss of eight wickets.
After the narrow defeat to Bangladesh, Nepali head coach Binod Das said that his team was not lucky to make winning start in the competition.
Nepal crashes out after facing second defeat
“We played the game very well with positive performance in both batting and bowling departments. Players gave tough fight to the strong Test playing nation. But were not lucky enough to win the match,” said Das.
Nepal made mediocre start to the inning with its opening duo Jitendra Singh and Mahamad Asif Sheikh building a 25-run partnership for the first wicket. Singh was dismissed for just six runs while Sheikh made 52-ball 30 runs that included three boundaries.
Similarly, third number batsman Anil Kumar Shah scored 19 runs hitting three boundaries, facing 17 balls. However losing skipper Dipendra Singh Airee for just 12 runs brought Nepal under pressure as it had only 70-4 on board in 24.1 overs.
However, fifth-number batsman Rohit Kumar Paudel tried to lay the foundation for Nepal by smashing 54-ball 40 runs. He also built 79-run partnership with Bhim Sharki for the fifth wicket. Top scorer Sharki scored 44 runs hitting three sixes and two boundaries in 40 deliveries. Similarly unbeaten Prakash KC and Kamal Singh Airee made four and seven runs respectively.
Nayeem Hasan was pick of the Bangladeshi bowling as he pocketed three wickets while Hasan Mahmud, Qazi Onik Islam, and Afif Hossain Dhrubo added one wicket each for Tigers.
Bangladesh made a positive start to its inning with the opening duo Pinak Ghosh and Naim Sheikh forming a 47-run partnership for the first wicket.
Ghosh scored 24 runs facing 40 deliveries, while Sheikh smashed 52 runs off 82 balls. Sheikh’s half century included three boundaries and one six. Sheikh built a 36-run partnership with Mohammed Saif Hassan and 21-run partnership with Tawhid Hridoy.
Hassan and Hridoy contributed 12 and 15 runs respectively. Similarly, Afif Hossain Dhrubo was another notable contributor for Tigers as he scored 39-ball 33 runs. Dhrubo built a 48-run partnership with Mahidul Islam Bhuiyan Ankon, which was important for Bangladesh to register victory.
Sandeep Lamichhane and Kamal Singh Airee claimed two wickets each for Nepal while Anil Kumar Sah, skipper Dipendra Singh Airee and Kishor Mahato added one wicket each.
Nepal will now face tournament favorite India in its second group match on Sunday. Head coach Das said that his team will have to take positive lessons from its defeat to Bangladesh in order to throw tough fight to the strong Indian opponents. India is at the top of the group after making a winning start against host Malaysia on Friday while Bangladesh is now in the second place with win over Nepal.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka recorded a 62-run win over Afghanistan in its second Group B match on the same day, and jumped to the top of points table extending its points tally to six. Afghanistan, which had defeated Pakistan on the opening day match, is placed in the second place.
