KATHMANDU, Oct 2: Nepal U-19 national cricket team crashed out of the ACC (Asian Cricket Council) U-19 Asia Cup after second consecutive defeat of three wickets by Afghanistan U-19 in a match played at Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan No 4 Ground, Savar, Bangladesh on Monday.
Nepal has zero points after two games. Nepal had already lost the first match on Saturday against India U-19. Both India and Afghanistan has four points each advancing to the semifinals after finishing on top two positions of the group A irrespective of the result of the match between Nepal and the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.
An inspired spell from Surya Tamang picking up four wickets was not enough to defend the paltry total of 131 scored by Nepal batsmen. Rashid Khan, Pawan Sarraf and Sagar Dhakal picked up a wicket each as Afghanistan completed the chase in 37.3 overs. In an immaculate spell of bowling, Sarraf conceded only 18 runs from his 10 overs while registering five maiden overs. In a distributed batting effort, Afghan captain Rahmanullah Gurbaz top scored for them with 26 runs from 30 deliveries including three fours and a six.
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Azmatullah Omarzai and Arif Khan scored 23 runs each from 30 and 33 deliveries to aid the chase.
Earlier, Nepal won the toss and elected to bat first in the second Group A match of the Asia Cup.
Afghanistan’s Omarzai led the rout as Nepal was cheaply bundled out of 131 runs in the 39th over. He registered a four-wicket-haul in nine overs he bowled in the match including four maiden overs. Rohit Kumar Paudel, who was withdrawn from the senior team, top-scored for Nepal with 46 runs to his name. He batted at number six facing 88 deliveries and scoring seven boundaries. Rashid managed a quick fire cameo of 30 runs with the bat coming in at number nine. He smashed five fours and a six during his 25-ball stay.
Skipper Aasif Sheikh, batting at number three could only score 20 runs from 46 deliveries including two boundaries. Afghanistan captain and wicket-keeper Gurbaz completed seven catches in the match.
Abdul Rahman and Qais Ahmad, who recently played in the Caribbean Premier League, picked up two wickets each whereas Rizwanullah Murad and Naveed Ahmad chipped in with a wicket each.
Four Nepali batsmen, Sandeep Jora, Pawan Sarraf, Kamal Singh Airee and Surya Tamang were dismissed for ducks whereas Ravi Shah was dismissed for two runs. Afghanistan conceded 17 extra runs in the match.
Nepal will face UAE in their last league match of the tournament on Tuesday. Regardless of the result, India and Afghanistan will go to semifinals.
