KATHMANDU, Sept 9: Nepal U-19 cricket team suffered a six-wicket loss at the hands of Bangladesh on Sunday, which saw the team get knocked out of the ongoing Asian Cricket Council U-19 Asia Cup with a game in hand in Sri Lanka.
At the P S Oval in Colombo, Bangladesh won the toss, elected to field first, and was presented with a target of 261 runs by Nepal for the loss of eight wickets in the allotted 50 overs. In reply, an unbeaten 98 runs from captain Akbar Ali helped Bangladesh chase the target hitting 262 runs for the loss of four wickets with four balls left to face.
Earlier, opener Pawan Sarraf scored the highest runs for Nepal with 81 off 109 deliveries which included a six and eight boundaries, while he was supported by Sandeep Jhora who scored 56 runs off 37 balls with three sixes and three fours.
Likewise, the other opener Rit Gautam added 32 runs off 53 balls in the Nepali total including a six and three fours, while Kushal Malla contributed 28 runs off 33 deliveries consisting of three sixes and a four.
Nepal knocked-out of Asia Cup race
Bhim Sharki, coming down the order, hit 21 runs off 19 balls with two fours, while captain Rohit Kumar Paudel scored 14 runs off 26 balls with a four.
The other Nepali batsmen failed to hit the double figures with Kamal Singh Airee being not out on nine runs, while Rashid Khan and Aarif Sheikh scored nine and three runs respectively.
Six Sri Lanka bowlers at least pocketed a wicket each as Shahin Alam and Tanzim Hasan Sakib picked up two wickets each in their nine overs spells.
Sakid gave away 51 runs in his spell which consisted of a maiden over, while Alam conceded 58 runs. Likewise, Mrittunjoy Chowdhury, Rakibul Hasan, Minhazur Rahman and Towhid Hridoy all took a wicket each for the team.
Nepali bowlers started their bowling spells properly as the score was 19-2 within 4.5 overs, but the double figures from the next four batsmen helped Bangladesh cruise towards a stunning victory.
Ali, hitting 98 runs off 82 balls, hit a stunning number of 14 boundaries, while he was supported by Hridoy who added 60 runs off 88 deliveries including three fours.
Likewise, unbeaten Shamim Hossain scored 42 runs off 45 balls with four boundaries, while Mahmudul Hasan Joy hit 40 runs off 56 balls with three boundaries.
Only three Nepali bowlers managed to take at least one wicket as Airee picked up two giving away 59 runs, while Khan and Hari Bahadur Chauhan pocketed a wicket each for the team.
Ali was named the man of the match.
In the other game of the day, Sri Lanka registered its second win of the tournament with a 52-run thumping over the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
After two rounds of fixtures in Group B, Bangladesh leads the table with four points from two games, while Sri Lanka is second with the same number of points, but is behind on net run rate.
Sri Lanka will take on Bangladesh for the top spot with both the teams already through, while Nepal will be looking to register its first points against the UAE on Tuesday.
