Nepal crash out of U-19 Asia Cup

Kathmandu, October 1

Nepali youth team suffered to their second straight defeat and crashed out of the ACC U-19 Asia Cup in Savar, Bangladesh today.

In their second match, Nepal faced a three-wicket loss at the hands of Afghanistan. Batting first, Nepal were bowled out for 131 in 38.3 overs before Afghanistan reached 136-7 in 37.3 overs. Nepal had lost by 171 runs to India in the first match. Nepal and the UAE — who also lost two successive matches — were out of semi-finals race, while India and Afghanistan made it to the last four from Group A.

Nepal’s top order faltered and they were reduced to 21-4 inside 11 overs. Opener Ravi Shah (two) was the first to go with just six runs on the board and his opening partner Rit Gautam (10) followed soon. Sandeep Jora and Pawan Sarraf failed to open their accounts.

Skipper Aasif Sheikh and Rohit Kumar Paudel added 53 runs for the fifth wicket before the former was dismissed in the 25th over. Nepal then lost Bhim Sarki (five) and Kamal Singh Airee (naught) in quick succession to be 81-7. Paudel and Rashid Khan shared a 38-run partnership for the eighth wicket to give some respectability to the team total.

Paudel top scored with 46 off 88 balls that included seven boundaries, while Khan clobbered five fours and a six in his quick fire 30 off 25 balls. Skipper Sheikh chipped in with 20 off 46 balls hitting two boundaries.

Azmatullah Omarzai was the chief destroyer taking 4-14 from nine overs, while Abdul Rahman and Qais Ahmad shared four wickets between them. Rizwanullah Murad and Naved Ahmad also claimed one each for Afghanistan.

In reply, Rashid Khan made the first breakthrough when he had Riaz Hussan (11) caught be Pawan Sarraf but the second-wicket partnership of 45 runs between skipper Rahmanullah Gurbaz (26) and Ijaz (16) took the match away from Nepal. Nepal removed both the batsmen in the space of four runs to reduce Afghanistan to 64-3.

Nepal claimed two quick wickets to reduce Afghanistan to 93-5 and fought hard by taking two more wickets but the total was too small to defend as tailenders Azmatullah Omarzai and Arif Khan scored 23 runs each. Surya Tamang was the pick of the Nepali bowlers taking 4-36 from 8.3 overs, while Rashid Khan, Pawan Sarraf and Sagar Dhakal claimed one wicket each.

In Group B, hosts Bangladesh beat Pakistan by three wickets to through the pool wide open. Sri Lanka are at the top of the table with four points, while Bangladesh and Pakistan are tied on two. Hong Kong, who have lost both the matches, are still in the semi-finals race.

(Bivks (right) of Chitwan Tigers jumps for a spike against New Diamond Club during their Aadhi Aabadi  Women’s Volleyball League match  at the National Sports Council covered hall in Kathmandu on Monday.

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