Nepal lost the first-ever final at the home turf as Singapore lifted the ACC U-16 Elite Cup on Tuesday.
Singapore with the trophy. Photo by Bikash Karki/myrepublica.com
Singapore scored 146/6 in 40 overs and bowled out Nepal for 78 runs in 22 overs for a 68-run win.
After electing to bat first, Singapore lost oepner Keshav Sashiri in the second over bowled by Devendra Somare.
Ishaan Shekhar, who were aggressive scoring 21 off 12 with four boundaries, tried to hit Satish Bhagat but the ball went to mid-off region where Swichan Shah took a good catch.
At 26/2 in 4.3 overs, Singapore chose to play quietly and next 14 overs they added 32 runs. Vikash Rajgopala and captain Varun Sivaram mostly relying on singles. Sivaram (14 off 40) fell to Rajiv Shah who took a return catch while Mohit Kulkarni (9) was trapped leg-before by Sushan Shrestha as the visitors go 79/4 in 26 overs.
Then Singapore swung the match in their favor with Rajagola racing to his fourth half-century in five matches. Dropped on 23 and 41, he scored 58 off 107 balls with just two boundaries before falling to Nischal Pandey.
Celebrations! Photo by Bikash Karki/myrepublica.com
Wicket-keeper Sam Franks kept the momentum on with 26 off 41 with a four and a six before running himself out in the last ball of the innings. Sidharth Sikka contributed with unbeaten 12 as Singapore finished on 146/6 – a tough score given that Nepal was a team of raw players that was depended on a couple of shoulders.
Nepal bowled 40 overs 35 minutes before the lunch leaving enough time for five overs of its innings. The early signs were good as openers Sharad Khadka and Nischal added 29 in those overs.
Story was totally different after lunch. In next five overs, Nepal lost three wickets for nine runs making it 38/5 in 10 overs – the fate of the match was already decided.
On field umpires for the final - Buddhi Bahadur Pradhan of Nepal who is also an umpire in the ICC Associate and Affiliate Panel and MV Ramesh of Singapore. Photo by Bikash Karki/myrepublica.com
Left-arm spinner Abhiraj Singh struck in the seventh over with Sharad being stumped. Two balls later, off-spinner Navin Param gave a blow taking the wicket of Nischal.
Swichan failed in fifth match straight going for a big shot – immediately after surviving a stumping on similar shot. He was second victim to Navin, who also struck in next over dismissing Dipendra Chand in a backfoot leg-before. Sushan Shrestha was run-out and it was 48/5.
Saisrikar Pogaru took three wickets for 10 runs while Shivan Ahuja grabbed the last one as Nepal was bowled out at miserable 78 in 22 overs.
This is the first-ever final that Nepal lost at home. For Singapore, who won the ACC U-15 Elite Cup two years ago, it was second title they won in Nepal.
Nischal Pandey of Nepal won the best bowler and man of the series award while Vikas Rajagolapa was named best batsman of the tournament.
Nischal Pandey with best bowler and man of the series awards. Photo by Bikash Karki/myrepublica.com
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ketaharule kya bore garyo, akhir naya nepal ko ketaharu ta honi jitda jitdai harne better luck next time.
Better Luck next time!! Singapore has improved a lot among the Asian teams along with Afghanistan !!
do good next time although going into final is not small things keep it up
Yesterday, I had sent my comments wherein I had stated that the team; who handles pressure would emerge as the victor. I was not wrong as Singaporeans having been restricted to just 146/6 (40 overs), they did not lose focus despite the fact Nepal at one stage were 25/0 (5 overs) before lunch. Once again, Nepali bowlers did a commendable job (Nepal’s bowling department has established its reputation) and it was batsmen’s job to accomplish the target. Restricting Singaporeans to below 150 runs was a terrific job, since they had scored almost 200 runs in each of their earlier outings. Once again, the batsmen’s failure to fulfill the objective has resurfaced; but, I presume it may not long last. With 147 target to win, the way openers batted confidently scoring 25/0 in 5 overs, it gave us the impression that Nepal would cruise along easily and there will not be any hiccups as such. Nonetheless, losing 5 important wickets in a span of 5 overs with just 8 runs being scored in-between, it seemed the balls transformed into a diabolical phantom and thoroughly annihilated Nepal’s batting line-up as though the Nepali batsmen were in some sort of hypnotic spell consigning them to their fatal doom!!!
According to my evaluation, I reckon the big match grand finale occasion, extra pressure to win this U-16 ACC Trophy which would have made Nepal winning all age-group tournaments – U-15, U-17, U-19 and created a kind of an enviable record. Having said this, I will not take away the superb performance of the Singaporeans who kept their cool and went about their expedition in a well-organized manner. Not losing a single game in the league-cum-knockout tournament is a sign of a champion team and there is no doubt, Singapore does command accolades and kudos for their achivement. Coming back to Nepal’s performance, honestly speaking, despite losing the finals, I am very much pleased with its overall performance. For a record, all the players having not played an international tournament before and reaching finals with newly uncapped players is something should be taken positively and praise these young colts for their terrific performance.
Even so, Nepal lost this final; this tournament will certainly be remembered for a dream debut of a new rising star, Nischal Pandey – a local boy from Chitwan, this place famous for wild life safari and here we have a real tiger, who mauls his hapless victims with the bat and ball as well. He is the find of the tournament and he has in him the makings of a good allrounder to serve senior team in the coming days, provided he is groomed and given further opportunities at other levels to test his temperament and equally to hone his skills. All in all, it was a wonderful tournament wherein we got to see young and emerging cricketers of participating countries and the fantastic hosting of this tournament by the host country. Of course, Cricket Association of Nepal and all others associated in this tournament and earlier Pepsi ICC WCL Division-5 Tournament truly deserve a bagful of praises and congratulations for their praiseworthy endeavour. Besides, the visual and print media also deserve kudos for giving an exclusive coverage to both the tournaments. So now, all eyes should be on ACC Trophy Elite Cup in Kuwait and ICC WCL Division-4 in Italy. So, good bye folks and see you then. Ciao………
X2x le essay lekhne practise garya ho ki kya ho. Any way guys do gud nxt time
I was particularly shocked with the way Swichan batted. How can a captain bat so irresponsibly? It looked as if he was in a hurry to leave the pitch. Was there anything wrong with him? He looked very angry and arrogant at the time of post-match presentation also. There must be some problems and personal grudges.
Unexpected results………….
Any ways………………………Best of Luck for the coming matches…….
Tyesma ta Trophy chahincha…………………………………..
Uttam dhakal ji, Essay lekhne X2X hoina, Sanjeev Lama ji ho yar. Padhera, Chinera Comment garnus na yar.
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Ketaharule Kya bore garyo. Nischal Bro. K gareko yar. Anyway good luck for coming game.. hard practice gara hai keta ho Future Bright chha.
The way Nepal Batted, they deserved to loose!!!
But, anyway congrats to overaged team containing Indians, Pakistanis for winning the final!!
sanjeev lama jee essay chahi nalekhau na plz………hamailai padna dikka lagi sakyo
his essay is more than 500 words…..hhaahhaah