Nepal goes down to Tigers, again

KATHMANDU, Nov 5: Nepal U-19 cricket team, which is in Bangladesh tour, faced a 123-run defeat to home team in its second practice match on Thursday. Nepal had suffered three wickets loss to Tigers in its first practice match on Thursday.

At Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Prothisthan Ground, Nepal won the toss and invited home team to bat, which made 227-8 in the allotted 50 overs. In reply, Nepal was able to make just 104 runs losing all the wickets in 36.5 overs.

Nepali batting was miserable with only four batsmen succeeding to touch double digit figures. Lower order batsman Rasid Khan’s 40-ball 24 was the biggest score from a Nepali batsman.

Similarly, Pawan Sarraf who came to bat at sixth number made 16 runs in 42 deliveries while Pranit Thapa Magar contributed 12 runs off 42 balls for the visiting side.

Earlier, Nepal made disastrous start to the innings as it lost the opening duo Sandeep Sunar (3) and Mahamad Asif Sheikh (9) cheaply. Anil Kumar Sah was bowled out for just three runs while skipper Dipendra Singh Airee was out for a duck.

Rohit Kumar Paudel scored 12-ball 9 while unbeaten Sandeep Lamichhane made 13 runs in 18 deliveries.

Hasan Mahmud was the pick of the Bangladeshi bowling as he claimed three wickets while he was supported by Roni Hossain, Robiul Haque, and Afif Hossain who bagged two wickets each.

Two batsmen – Afif Hossain, Saif Hassan – hit half centuries for Bangladesh. Afif smashed 67-ball 59 with two sixes and four boundaries. Skipper Saif scored 62 runs in 115 deliveries that consisted of one six and four boundaries.

Earlier, Tigers made moderate start to the innings with its opening duo Naim Seikh and Sojib Hussain building up just 20-run partnership for the first wicket. Naim scored 28-ball 26 while Sojib was dismissed for just seven runs by Bhim Sharki. However, Naim and Tawhid Hridoy’s 54-run partnership for second wicket anchored the Bangladeshi innings. Tawhid contributed 29 runs off 50 balls while Sakil Hossain made 14 runs in 13 deliveries.

Tigers lost its lower order batsmen Mahidul Islam Bhuyean (8) and Robiul Haque (9) cheaply but it didn’t stop it from registering second consecutive win over Nepal. Nayeem Hasan (2) and Hasan Mahmud (4) stayed not-out for the Bangladeshi side.

Nepal’s Rasid Khan claimed three wickets whereas Sandeep Lamichhane and Dipendra Singh Airee bagged two wickets each.

Nepal, which is on a tour to Bangladesh as part of the preparations for the upcoming ACC U-19 Asia Cup to be held in Malaysia, will play its last practice match against the home team on Sunday.

Nepal is drawn against Test playing nations including India and Bangladesh along with hosts Malaysia in Group A in the Asia Cup slated for November 9-20.