Nepal end U19 Asia Cup campaign with consolation win

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Dec. 4: Nepal’s ACC Men’s U-19 Asia Cup campaign ended on Tuesday with a consolation win over Afghanistan in the duo’s final group stage match of the tournament. Nepal won by a wicket in Sharjah Cricket Stadium, UAE.

Winning the toss, Afghanistan elected to bat first in the game where both the teams were looking to end their time in the UAE with a solace. Nepal and Afghanistan had lost two of their group stage matches to defending champion Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

With two wins in two games, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had ensured their progression to the playoffs with a match in hand. They faced each other in Dubai on Tuesday to decide on the group topper.

Meanwhile, despite deciding to bat first, Afghanistan’s batting line-up crumbled in Sharjah. 

Skipper Hemant Dhami gave Nepal the first relief in the very first over as he clean bowled his Afghani counterpart and opener Mahboob Khan for a duck. 

Abhisekh Tiwari took the second wicket in the second over as he clean bowled Uzairullah Niazai. It was in-at-three Faisal Shinozada who took the helm for Afghanistan; Faisal added 52 off 67 before departing as the seventh wicket in 25.1 overs.

Faisal had lost four partners – Hamza Khan (9 off 26), Barkat Ibrahimzai (12 off 35), Ezat Barakzai (1 off 5) and Nazifullah Amiri (1 off 11) – before departing.

It was only thanks to the lower-order that Afghanistan could post a decent total of 123 before getting bundled at 35.4 overs.

Dhami and Tiwari claimed two wickets each in total while Santosh Yadav and Unish Thakuri bagged three each for Nepal.

Nepal could restrict Afghanistan to a paltry, but they too struggled with the bat in the chase.

Nepal was clearly following the procedure of saving the wickets to chase the low target. Nepal lost two wickets by the end of the first power play in the form of Aakash Tripathi (9 off 30) and Mayan Yadav (1 off 9). 

The slow approach did not help Nepal score enough runs and the team was near to defeat by the time in-at-seven Uttam Magar departed in 27.1 overs leaving the team at 69/7.

However, the lower-order did not let their bowling efforts go to waste and contributed with the bat as well.

Except for in-at-three Arjun Kumal (21 off 62), in-at-eight, nine and ten batsmen were the only ones to score in double figures.

Naren Saud’s 26 off 54, Tiwari’s 13 off 13 and Dhami’s 22 off 33 were the scores that aided Nepal to chase the low target in 41.3 overs with only one wicket in hand,

Dhami stayed not out with Unish, who did not score in the four deliveries he faced, to register at least one win before ending their time in the UAE.