Nepal out of U-19 Asia Cup

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Dec. 13: India gave Nepal tough cricketing lessons with a thumping 10-wicket victory in the ACC Men’s U19 Asia Cup in Dubai on Tuesday.  

Losing all of its three group matches, Nepal was knocked out of the continental tournament. With a comprehensive win in the last group match, defending champions India reached the semifinal finishing at the second spot of Group A table with four points.  

Pakistan topped the table with six points after defeating Afghanistan by 83 runs and advanced to the knockout round. Afghanistan also crashed out from the tourney after remaining at the third position with two points.

Nepal, invited to bat first, was able to put up a target of only 53 runs in the 50-over game as Indian bowlers bundled out Nepal’s batting lineup in 22.1 overs. Two of the opening bowlers for India were sufficient to pack Nepal in 52. Moreover, of the 52 runs, 13 came from extras. Indian openers reached the target in only 7.1 overs without losing any wickets.

Fast bowlers Raj Limbani and Aaradhya Shukla took nine wickets between them, with Raj alone taking seven wickets. In a total of 9.1 overs bowled by Raj, he only gave 13 runs and bowled three maiden overs. Aaradhya also bowled nine overs with two maidens, took two wickets and conceded 31 runs. 

Medium pacer Arshin Kulkarni and spinner Saumy Pandey bowled two overs each. Arshin gave seven runs and took a wicket while Saumy bowled a maiden over and only gave one run in his other spell. Raj’s short balls swinging inside and outside wreaked havoc on Nepali batters as they got bowled, caught behind the stumps for an edge and caught in the point and drive areas for a poor shot. 

Deepak Bohora, Uttam Magar, Dev Khanal, Deepak Dumre, Dipak Bohora, Subash Bhandari and Hemant Dhami were the prey of Raj. Aaradhya claimed the wickets of Arjun Kumal and Gulshan Jha. Dipesh Kandel was the only wicket of Arshin. 

None of the Nepali batsmen were able to score a two-digit score; two players went back to the pavilion for a duck. Hemant Dhami, who came in at 10, was the highest scorer with eight runs from 18 balls.

The chase by India was a one-sided affair. The opening pair of Adarsh Singh and Arshin Kulkarni hit three fours and five sixes to ensure the win.

Adarsh played a supporting inning while Arshin took the chase in his hands. Arshin hit all five sixes of the inning and a four to score 43 off 30 balls. Adarsh remained not out at 13 off 13 balls. Arshin finished the chase after slamming a six in the first ball of the eight over when India was at 51-0. 

Gulshan bowled four overs and gave 33 runs while Hemant bowled two overs and gave 12 runs. Indian openers scored 12 runs in the 1.1 overs of Aakash.

Nepal had made four changes with India compared to the team for Afghanistan in the second group match. Dipak Prasad Dumre, Dipak Bohora, Hemant Dhami and Deepak Bohora replaced Tilak Raj Bhandari, Bipin Rawal, Bishal Bikram KC and Aakash Tripathi.