Four-time defending champions Nepal settled for third place in the ACC U-19 Elite Cup after defeating Qatar by seven wickets in the third-place playoff at Hubara Ground, Kuwait.
Electing to field, Nepal bowled out Qatar for 142 runs in 43 overs. In reply, Nepal reached the target in 29 overs with seven wickets at their disposal.
The Qatar batsmen could sustain against the lethal spinners of Nepal with Minas Khaesh and Taha Mohammed managing 50 and 14 runs respectively.
Prithu Baskota shone with ball claiming three wickets while Sagar Khadka claimed two. Likewise, Chandra Saud, Lal Bahadur Adhikari and Gyanendra Malla took a wicket each.
Skipper Gyanendra Malla had a worthwhile stint with the bat as well registering his third half century in the tournament with 67 runs off 73 balls, which included 10 boundaries. Prithu Baskota posted 27 runs while Anil Mandal managed 11 runs.
Nepal went in as the favourites having won the championship four times.
They lifted the coveted silverware in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007 after they lost to Bangladesh in the finals in 1999.
“As defending champions, we had to make sad exit from the event. The third place has given us something to cheer about in the end. Besides Gyanendra and Prithu, our batsmen could not really give their best in this tournament,” said Coach Dias.
Nepal had to play the third playoffs after suffering a six-wicket loss against Afghanistan on Wednesday.