Nepal humble Malaysia to complete title hat-trick

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, July 5: Nepal emerged champions of ACC U16 East Zone Cup Cricket following its empathic 221-run win over Malaysia in the final match held in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. 

With this victory, Nepal completed a hat-trick of titles in this tournament. Previously, Nepal had clinched two successive titles in 2017 and 2019. Nepal defeated Singapore by 72 runs in 2017 and Malaysia by 59 runs in the 2019 finals.  

At Bayuemas Oval Cricket Ground, Nepal opted to bat first and amassed 252 runs losing eight wickets in the allocated 35 overs. Host Malaysia, in a run chase, was packed up in 14.5 overs with just 31 runs on the scoreboard. 

Muhammad Akram (10) was the top contributor while five batters were out for nought and the rest returned to the pavilion for a cheap score. Skipper Abhisekh Tiwari led Nepal’s bowling onslaught with a five-wicket haul. He gave seven runs and bowled one maiden over in his miserly six-over spell. 

Santosh Yadav finished with three wickets. Yadav played two maiden overs and conceded nine runs from his spell of three overs. Sagar Gaire and Ashok Dhami dismissed one batter each in the destruction of Malaysian batting. 

Earlier, the explosive century from Naren Bhatta helped Nepal score a mammoth. One-man down Bhatta cracked ten fences and two sixes in his not-out 89-ball 112 blitz. 

Nepal made a good start with opener batters  Suryanshu Koirala (23-ball 18) and Niraj Kumar Yadav (49-ball 47) putting on a 41-run first-wicket stand. 

Niraj, who hit six fences, then joined with Bhatta to add 55 runs for the second wicket. After Niraj’s departure, Dipu Kumar (5) and Pratik Bhattarai (1) was ran out in two successive balls in the 19th over. 

Bhatta, then, collaborated with Santosh Yadav (29-ball 26) for the fifth wicket to add 103 runs. 

Ashok Dhami (7-ball 11), Abhisekh Tiwari (4) and Aashish Luhar (2) returned to the pavilion as Bhatta saw his team to a big score remaining unbeaten. Muhammad Akram was the pick of the bowler for Malaysia with a figure of 3-45 runs. 

Arin Aquil and Muhammad Fadul Muin took one wicket each. Nepal and Malaysia advanced to the final by defeating Singapore and Hong Kong respectively on Monday.