KATHMANDU, July 5: Nepal advanced to the semi-final of the ongoing ACC U 19 Eastern Region Cricket Tournament by becoming the Group 'A' winner. In the group's concluding match held today at Kinrara Oval Ground in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Nepal beat Singapore by a large margin of 217 runs and cruised to the semi-final.
Singapore also made its headway to the semi by becoming the first runner-up of the group. Nepal, Singapore and China are in the group 'A'. In the previous matches, China was defeated by both Nepal and Singapore and was out of the match. In today's match, Nepal was elected to bat first after winning the toss. It made a score of 326 runs at the loss of four wickets. For Nepal, Rit Gautam contributed the highest 115 unbeaten runs, hitting one six and 10 fours.
Nepal crowned champions of ACC U-19 Eastern Region
Similarly, Khadak Bohara hit 90 runs while Kushal Malla remained unbeaten on 51. Pawan Sarraff made 45. For Singapore, Pranav Sudarshan, Rajesh Krishan and Vinit Chetes took two wickets each. In chasing a target of 327 runs posted by rival, Nepal, Singapore was limited to 109 runs in 39.1 overs at the loss of all wickets. Hari Kukreja made the highest 30 runs for Singapore, while Kannu Swami Satish 24.
Likewise, Chandra Mauli Shreedev played with 23 runs. No other batsmen except the three hit double-digit runs. Nepal's Kushal Malla's alone took four wickets while Tilak Raj Bhandari, Rashid Khad, and Sagar Dhakal a wicket each. The winning team will be qualified for the U-19 Asia Cup scheduled for coming August-September in Sri Lanka.
