KATHMANDU, March 28: Nepal crashed out from the group stage of the ACC Emerging Teams Cup on Tuesday after it succumbed to second defeat in a row. Nepal faced an 83-run defeat to host Bangladesh U-23 team at the Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
Nepal, which had gone down to Pakistan by six wickets during its opening match on Monday, was again to blame for under-par batting performance against the Test-playing side.
Nepal will play against fellow associate nation Hong Kong in its last group match of Group B on Thursday. Hong Kong and Nepal are yet to open score in the points table after playing equal two matches in the four-team group. Bangladesh and Pakistan have confirmed semifinal berths after winning both of their group stage matches. Both of them have four points each.
Nepal was bowled out for 174 runs in 42.3 overs after Bangladesh made 257/9 at close in the 50-over format. Inviting the host to bat first after winning the toss, Nepal kept Bangladesh under pressure in the initial stage claiming four wickets for 33 runs.
Avinash Karn removed openers Saif Hassan for seven runs and Azmir Ahmed for a duck along with number four batsman Mohammad Mithun who also failed to open account. The following batsman Nazmul Hossain Shanto was bowled for four runs by veteran Mehboob Alam.
But skipper Mominul Haque, who came in number three and Nassir Hossain, the fifth batsman, anchored the Bangladeshi innings. Mominul scored 61 runs off 78 and Nasir remained unbeaten on 109 runs off 115.
The duo, also the members of Bangladesh national team, played 78-run stand for the fifth wicket before Mominul was caught by captain Gyanendra Malla off Sandeep Lamichhane. He hit seven fences. Nasir cracked 12 fours and two sixes.
Tailender Abul Hasan (29), Afif Hossain (14) and Mohammad Saifuddin (13) were the other batsmen of Bangladesh to contribute runs in double digit figure.
Bangladesh had fielded three members of the nation team including Abul Hasan as per the rules of the competition.
Nepal's Avinash claimed three wickets in his eight-over bowling spell with a maiden over conceding 46 runs. Similarly, Sandeep pocketed two wickets in his 10-over bowling giving away 41 runs while Mehboob, Dipendra Singh Airee and Gyanendra Malla shared one wicket each.
Nepal had a shaky start in its run chase, as it lost openers Gyanendra without scoring any run and Sunil Dhamala for just one run. Nepal was limited to 16/3 at one point. But wicketkeeper-batsman Dilip Nath and Dipendra gave some resistance to the Nepali innings. Dilip (41 runs off 62) and Dilip (56 runs off 85) shared a 98-run stand for the fourth wicket before the former was bowled by Rahatul Ferdous in 29.2 overs. He hit four fours and a six. Dipendra hit six fences before he was dismissed.
Binod Bhandari (33 runs off 23), Aasif Sheikh (12 runs off 15) and Mehboob (10 runs off 17) were the only other batsmen for Nepal to reach double digit score.
Rahatul Ferdous was the pick of Bangladeshi bowlers claiming four wickets his his seven-over spell. He gave away 45 runs. Mohammad Saifuddin claimed three wickets in his 8.3-over bowling with four maiden overs. He conceded 22 runs.
Nepali is playing in the absence of veterans including regular skipper Paras Khadka, Shakti Gauchan, Basanta Regmi and fasst bowler Sompal Kami. Paras is recuperating after his appendicitis surgery while the other three were given rest with a view to give exposure to new players.
Sri Lanka crashes out from SAFF U-15 Championship
