KATHMANDU, July 18: Nepal's U-19 cricket team continued its winning form in the ICC U-19 World Cup Division-1 Asia Qualifiers defeating Malaysia U-19 by five wickets on Tuesday.
Nepali bowlers once again displayed impressive bowling in the competition as they bowled out Malaysia for a paltry 58 runs in 25.5 overs. In reply, Nepal raced to 61-5 in 9.5 overs.
Skipper Sandeep Lamichhane continued his fine form as he completed five wickets haul for a second match in a row for the Nepali youth side which chose to field after winning the toss at Singapore Cricket Club, Padang.
Head coach Binod Das praised the performance of his skipper Sandeep. “He is bowling well. He claimed five wickets in a row which is a big positive for the team,” said head coach Das.
Nepal register second win, Lamichhane takes five
Sandeep also had claimed five wickets in Nepal's four-wicket victory over home team Singapore in the first match on Monday.
After the match, head coach Binod Das praised the performance of his skipper Sandeep. “He is bowling well. He claimed five wickets in a row which is a big positive for the team,” said head coach Das.
Despite the good bowling, the batting line-up of the Nepali side has struggled again as two batsmen only touched double digit figures.
Aasif Sheikh stroked the highest 23 runs for Nepal hitting five boundaries off 20 balls. Unbeaten Pranit Thapa Magar was another batsmen to touch double digit for the winning side as he scored 18 runs off 12 balls that included one six and one boundary. Opener Sandeep Sunar made just six runs while Aadil Khan, who came to bat in third number, made five runs. Nepal lost its other middle order batsmen cheaply as Dipendra Singh Airee and Rohit Kumar Paudel were dismissed for four runs each. Likewise, Anil Sah was out for a duck.
Hafizuddin was the pick of the Malaysian bowlers as he pocketed 3-21 in three overs while Halqal Khair and Muhammad Amir took one wicket each.
Das said that his team has to improve batting to give tough fight to Afghanistan. “Although we are not worried about Afghanistan, we will have to improve our batting. We have a good bowling attack and we are a great fielding side and if we can bat well, we will cause a lot of pressure to Afghanistan,” said Das. Nepal will compete against Afghanistan on Thursday.
Earlier, none of the batsmen of Malaysia touched double digit. Virandeep Singh and Haiqal Khair were the highest scorers for Malaysia as they both made nine runs each before getting dismissed in Sandeep Lamichhane's deliveries. Nepali captain also sent Saifullah Malik (8), Ainool Haqqiem (5) and Muhammad Hafiz (2) to the pavilion. Sandeep was supported by Pawan Saraff who took three wickets in a row to bundle Malaysia in a low score. Naim Nazley was out for a duck while other middle-order batsmen Syed Aziz (1) and Ammar Hazlan (7) also were dismissed in Pawan's deliveries. Likewise, Kishore Mahato and Sandeep Sunar claimed one wicket each for Nepal.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan also produced its second win in the qualifiers as it defeated Singapore by seven wickets in the other match of the day.
