Nepal, who had defeated Afghanistan by six wickets in the group stage, were restricted to 139 runs while chasing a target of 201 set by Afghanistan at the Thailand cricket ground. This was Nepal’s second defeat in the final in eight editions of the tournament.

Despite making a nervous start, a partnership of 83 runs off 118 balls between Pradeep Airee and Rajesh Pulami had given Nepal some hope after having lost four wickets for 31 runs. It was, however, short-lived as Pulami was soon run out by a direct hit. Pulami, who scored 22 off 72, was run out on his own call.

Nepal lost their last six wickets for 25 runs, with Rahul Kumar Bishwakarma and Krishna Karki failing to even open their account. Airee did not have much option and chose power play in the 37th over, which cost Bhuwan Karki’s wicket. Airee, too, lost his composure following that.

Airee, who scored 59 runs, was caught at long on. He was earlier dropped on 57. “I had thought I could return after hitting the winning run but I lost patience after the cheap loss of wickets,” Airee said. Airee’s knock included three boundaries and a six off 93 deliveries.

Afghanistan did not need much time to claim Avinash Karna’s wicket and lift the title for the first time in the age group to continue their dominance in the ACC.

Despite the loss, Nepal’s coach Jagat Tamata claimed his side was the best team of the tournament. “The way we played in the tournament proved that we are the best team. Our four batsmen could not play up to their potential, which cost us dearly,” Tamata said. The defeat also shattered Tamata’s dream of being the first Nepali coach to win an international title.

Tamata also said that the absence of regular captain Prithu Baskota changed Nepal’s fate. “We could have easily won the match had Baskota been there,” Tamata addded.

Nepal lost their batsman Faizlur Rahman Khan, who was the man-of-the-match in the first two matches, for a duck. He was bowled by Shir Sirjee.

Aftab Alam, know as one of the fastest bowlers of the tournament, broke Subash Khakurel’s leg stump into two pieces. Khakurel could score only six runs. Naresh Budhayer, who had collected 120 runs in the previous three matches remaining unbeaten, was too bowled by Alam. Sagar Pun was dismissed for eight runs.

Earlier, Afghanistan had garnered 200\9 in the allotted 50 overs. Afghanistan had made only 90 in 30 overs but the tail-enders rescued their innings.

Earlier, Nepal did not have a good day in the field as well. Airee dropped Afsar Khan in mid-off when he was on 11. Khan went on to score 26 off 60. Mohibullah Pak (36) and Noor Haque (34) later rescued the Afghanistan innings.

Airee, who claimed five wickets in his nine-over spell conceding 43 runs, was declared the man of the final. Krishna Karki claimed two wickets while Bhuwan Karki and Rahul Bishwakarma

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Nepal qualified for the global qualifier for the ICC U-19 World Cup reaching the final of the ACC U-19 Elite Cup with a six-wicket victory over Qatar in the semifinal at AIT Ground.

Nepal will meet Afghanistan in the final at TCG on February 10 in a bid to win the title for the fifth time. Two years ago, Afghanistan had beaten Nepal in semifinal ending the 10-year dominance at the tournament.

At AIT, Nepal won the toss and invited Qatar to bat first. After a good start, Qatar flattered against Nepali spinners and were all out for 113 in 47 overs. Nepal chased down the target in 20 overs losing four wickets.

In five overs before lunch, Nepal lost openers Subash Khakurel and Faljur Khan. Subash was trapped leg-before by Qatari captain Tamoor Sajjad who chose to open bowling with spinners.

Sajjad caught Faljur off Mohd Khan. Faljur scored 19 off 12 balls. From 24/2, Sagar Pun and Naresh Budayer denied further damage adding 82 runs for third wicket.

Sagar was out 8 runs short from target and Rajesh Pulami was bowled round-the-leg the first ball he faced. Pradeep Airee hit two sixes to finish things up in 20 overs.

Earlier, man of the match Rahul BK took 4/20 to wreck the Qatar innings that had got a good start. Bhuwan Karki supported well with two wickets – taken in two balls and including the first-ball wicket of Sajjad. He just gave away 12 runs in 10 overs to keep them pinned.

Two run-outs at the end concluded the innings at 113 leaving Omar Istiaq unbeaten on 22. Saad Khan topscored for Qatar with 26.

Afghanistan beat Hong Kong by 7 wickets in the other semifinal. Defending champions Hong Kong has scored 133 runs.

Brief scorecard: Qatar 113 all out in 47 overs (Saad Khan 26, Omar Istiaq 22*, Rahul BK 4/20, Bhuwan Karki 2/12) lost to Nepal 119 for 4 in 20 overs (Naresh Budayer 41*, Sagar Pun 36, Faljur Khan 19, Pradeep Airee 12*) by 6 wickets.

Prithu Baskota injured

Nepali captain Prithu Baskota tore his ligament while fielding against Qatar and had to be rested for three weeks. He will not be able to play the final and vice-captain Rahul BK will lead the team in the final.

Prithu was stretched out of the ground and taken to hospital where it was revealed that he only had the ligament tearing and no fracture. He returned to venue at lunch.

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Nepal expected a batting fireworks when it chose to bat first, which did not come as Thailand bowled well to restrict the four-time winners to 245/9 in 50 overs. Rahul’s 8/15 bowled out Thailand for mere 71 runs in 27.5 overs.

Rahul performance is his best international figure at any level surpassing his 7-wicket haul against USA in the final of the World Cricket League Division 5 in Kathmandu in 2008. It’s also best performance for Nepal as the age-group level bettering Raj Shrestha’s 7/16 against Qatar in ACC U-17 Cup in 2004.

Thailand began cautiously against Nepal, with a plan of not losing wickets even though runs were not coming and managed to reach 43/1 in 10 overs. But once spinners began bowling, it was a different tale and Rahul completely dominated the proceedings.

Bhuwan Karki took a wicket while the first wicket was down as run-out. For Thailand, opener Witsanukorn Thapthimthai scored 17, Daniel Leach 13 and Ishan Karla 10.

Nepal has now topped Group B and will play runners-up of Group A. Group A is wide open with Qatar confirming a quarterfinal spot. Any of five teams of the group can finish runners-up depending upon the equation of the matches to be played on February 6.

Earlier, Nepal rode on half-century by birthday-boy Prithu Baskota and classy knock by No 10 Bhuwan Karki to reach a formidable total.

Prithu, who came at 30/2 with both openers back to pavilion, scored 64 off just 62 balls with six fours and two sixes. He reached the landmark of half-century in 52 balls. He ran himself out.

Quite a few batsmen did get the start but could not convert them into big score. Sagar was out scoring 22 off 48. Rajesh Pulami (17), Pradeep Airee (27 off 14 balls) and Rahul BK (19) too got some runs.

Inability of Shiva Tandukar (1) and Krishna Karki (4) were out early and it looked like Nepal would score less than 200 as it went down to 196/9..

But last wicket partnership of unbeaten 49 runs between Bhuwan (36) and last man Avinash Karn (5 off 29 balls) concluded Nepal innings in a good total.

For Thailand, Jai Bhagwat took 3/60 in his 10 overs and Ishan Karla got 2/37 in 8 overs.

In other matches of the day, Bahrain pulled off the shock of the week at Chiang Mai Gymkhana by beating Qatar who had already qualified for the semi-finals.

Bahrain’s total of 111 looked far too small but Cyrus D’Souza dismissed Qatar’s star player on the way to figures of 5 for 16 and they were bowled out for 99 and Bahrain could celebrate victory by 12 runs.

Singapore had come close to success in both their previous matches and finally claimed victory when they held their nerve to beat Malaysia by four wickets at PTIS Oval. Malaysia recovered from 64 for 7 to score 137 and Singapore kept their supporters on edge throughout their innings before reaching their target.

Defending champions Hong Kong must now beat Malaysia to be sure of a place in semi-finals, while the winners of the match between Afghanistan and UAE will also qualify for a place in the last four.

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Nepal confirmed a place in semifinal after beating arch-rival Afghanistan by 6 wickets in the ACC U-19 Elite Cup cricket tournament at AIT Ground, Bangkok on Friday.

Nepal bowled out Afghanistan for 125 runs in 42.3 overs and scored 127 for 4 in 26.4 overs for the comprehensive victory.

Pace bowler Avinash Karn set the tone taking a wicket in the first ball of the innings and Afghanistan batsmen never took off. Avinash followed by two more wickets while his opening partner Krishna Karki supported well with a wicket and disciplined bowling.

Avinash took the return catch offered by Afsar Khan, who had scored century against Thailand, on the first ball. Hashmatullah (3) holed out to mid-on off Krishna Karki in the fifth over.

Avinash, having changed his bowling end, got Younas Khan and Najibullah out to restrict Afghanistan at 24/4 in 10 overs. From then on, it was Afghani effort to score while Nepali bowlers bowled with disciplined to keep them restricted. Avinash to adjudged man of the match.

Pradeep Airee and Rahul BK claimed two wickets each while Krishna Karki and Bhuwan Karki took a wicket each for Nepal to end Afghanistan innings early enough for six overs batting before lunch. For Afghanistan Mohibullah Paak topscored with 30 and Rahmatullah Sahaq got 29.

Nepal lost Faizlur Khan, who had scored century two days ago, early but not before he hit two consecutive sixes. He made 14 and Nepal went to lunch at 39/1 in 6 overs. Nepal lost Sagar Pun (8) and Prithu Baskota (9) without much contribution but Subash Khakurel stayed long enough to build a good foundation. Subash scored 23 off 51.

Naresh Budayer then took charge in his hand, having survived when he was on 0 and 4. He remained unbeaten on 42 off 48 balls along with Pradeep Airee (10 off 13 balls) for the morale-boosting victory.

Nepal will now play hosts Thailand in the last league match at the same ground on Saturday.

“We bowled line to line and the spinners Bhuwan and Rahul did just the right thing. No doubt we would have struggled batting first because for 90 minutes in the morning the wicket was very difficult,” says victorious coach Jagata Tamata, “Batting we could have a little better but Afghanistan thought pace was the answer today when keeping wides down was more important.”

QATAR QUALIFY FOR SEMIFINAL

In Group A, Qatar defeated defending champions Hong Kong by 11 runs to qualify for semifinal. Qatar scored 168 and bowled out Hong Kong for Hong Kong 157 all out in 43 overs.

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Nepal continued it’s brilliant performance in the ACC U-19 Elite Cup defeating Oman by 304 runs in a match of records at TGC, Bangkok, Thailand.

Nepal scored 391/4 in 50 overs after electing to bat first and bowled out Oman for just 87 in 31.5 overs for the second victory in the tournament.

Nepal’s total matched the highest total at the age-group level scored against the Maldives in 2003 in Karachi, Pakistan.

Nepal’s total was built around century by Faizrul Rahman Khan who became the only third U-19 batsmen after former U-19 captains Shakti Gauchan and Kaniskha Chaugai to reach the milestone. Shakti had scored 100 in 2001 and Kaniskha 125 in 2003 – both against Maldives.

Faizrul scored 101 in 99 balls with 10 fours. He and Subash Khakurel gave a brilliant opening scoring 81 before the latter fell to M Wickremaratne for 27 off 55 balls.

Faizrul then partnered Sagar Pun for a century partnership. The duo who had partnered unbeaten 80 a day earlier against UAE, scored freely to add 110. Faizrul was given leg-before at 101 after a long thought by the umpire.

If Oman had hoped any relief from his wicket, they were proved wrong as Pradeep Airee joined Sagar and they accelerated the scoring rate. Their partnership counted for 127 runs, the second best partnership after 137 by Yashwant Subedi and Kaniskha in 2003 against Maldives, and came in no time.

Sagar was bowled out for 83 off 80 balls by Umair Naeem and Pradeep soon followed after scoring 86 off just 40 balls with six fours and five sixes. Naresh Budayer (37 off 17 balls) and captain Prithu Baskota (22 off 9 balls) finished the overs with a huge total.

In reply, Oman lost wickets frequently. Rahul BK took three for 14 and Avinash Karn grabbed two. They lost three wickets as run-outs – thanks to Krishna Karki. Prithu Baskota and Bhuwan Karki claimed a wicket each.

“It’s a great performance,” Prithu said after the match. “It was a huge total. The opening partnership; and knocks by Sagar and Pradeep set us up.”

“Pradeep is a magnificent player and he played brilliantly today. I hope he will carry on playing like this,” he added.

Shahriar Khan, the media manager of ACC, talking to captain Prithu Baskota and star performers.

SCORECARD

 

Nepal Innings 391/4 (Overs 50)

Batsman	Fieldsman	Bowler	Runs	Bls	4s	6s
Subash Khakurel+	lbw	b M Wickremaratne	27	55	0	0
Faizrul Khan	lbw	b C Asher	101	99	10	0
Sagar Pun		b U Naeem	83	80	4	0
Pradeep Airee	c C Asher	b G Dias	86	40	6	5
Naresh Budayer	not out		37	17	4	0
P Baskota*	not out		22	9	0	0
extras		(b1 lb2 w28 nb4)	35
TOTAL		4 wickets for	391

 

FOW

1-81(Subash Khakurel) 2-191(Faizrul Khan) 3-318(Sagar Pun) 4-332(Pradeep Airee)

 

Bowler	O	M	R	W	wd	nb
M Juned	10	1	54	0	-	-
G Dias	10	0	83	1	-	-
M Wickremaratne	5	0	50	1	-	-
M Misra	1	0	12	0	-	-
S Malhotra	9	0	59	0	-	-
S Someshwar	5	0	30	0	-	-
C Asher	5	0	33	1	-	-
U Naeem	5	0	67	1	-	-

 

Oman Innings 87 All Out (Overs 31.5)

Batsman	Fieldsman	Bowler	Runs	Bls	4s	6s
M Misra		b P Baskota	30	46	4	0
A Ramesh		b Avinash Karn	3	6	0	0
M Wickremaratne	run out Krishna Karki		3	9	0	0
S Sanjeevan+	run out Krishna Karki		1	4	0	0
C Asher*	c P Baskota	b R Biswokarma	15	21	2	0
AM Hussain	c Naresh Budayer	b Bhuwan Karki	0	3	0	0
G Dias	c Subash Khakurel	b Avinash Karn	4	38	0	0
U Naeem	run out Krishna Karki		5	10	0	0
S Someshwar	c P Baskota	b R Biswokarma	9	24	0	0
S Malhotra	not out		5	26	1	0
M Juned	c Krishna Karki	b R Biswokarma	0	2	0	0
extras		(b1 lb0 w6 nb0)	7
penalty runs			5
TOTAL		10 wickets for	87

 

FOW

1-14 2-36 3-38 4-48 5-49 6-66 7-67 8-69 9-87 10-87

 

Bowler	O	M	R	W	wd	nb
Avinash Karn	7	1	22	2	2	-
Krishna Karki	5	0	18	0	-	-
Bhuwan Karki	8	3	16	1	-	-
P Baskota	4	1	11	1	1	-
R Biswokarma	7.5	2	14	3	2	-

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Faizrul Khan scored unbeaten 45 to help Nepal defeat United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 9 wickets in the opening match of the ACC U-19 Elite Cup at AIT Ground, Bangkok.

Faizrul and Sagar Pun partnered unbeaten 81 as Nepal chased UAE’s 87 in 16.3 overs losing only Subash Khakurel (5). Sagar remained unbeaten on 36.

Earlier, Avinash Karn and Krishna Karki picked up a wicket each early to nail down the UAE batsmen who struggled to score.

The spinners continued the disciplined bowling drying up runs and taking wickets frequently. UAE batsmen did not find any room to score and hit the innings’ first boundary in 27th over.

Rahul Kumar BK picked up three wickets for 18 runs while Krishna, Avinash and Bhuwan Karki claimed two wickets each. Captain Prithu Baskota also took a wicket.

Dan DeSuza topscored 21 and SN Ramesh got 14 for UAE.

Nepal will now meet Oman on February 2.

Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Qatar win

Defending champions Hong Kong defeated Bahrain by 109 runs at Prem Center. Hong Kong scored 274/9 in 50 overs – thanks to Nizakat Khan’s century and bowled out Bahrain for 165 in 38.1 overs.

Qatar defeated Malaysia by 62 runs after scoring 241/7 and bowling out Malaysia for 179 in 43.4 overs.

The biggest winner of the day were Afghanistan who defeated hosts Thailand by 249 runs. Afghanistan scored 326/8 and bowled out Thailand for 77 in 28 overs.

SCORECARD

 

United Arab Emirates Innings 87 All Out (Overs 47.2)

Batsman	Fieldsman	Bowler	Runs	Bls	4s	6s
Zamin Jaleel	c Rajesh Pulami	b Avinash Karn	2	8	0	0
Aqib Malek*	c Faizrul Khan	b Krishna Karki	0	3	0	0
Reuben Abraham	c Sagar Pun	b P Baskota	13	61	0	0
SN Ramesh	c P Baskota	b R Biswokarma	14	59	0	0
Chirag Suri	lbw	b Bhuwan Karki	2	8	0	0
Waleed Ahmad	c Rajesh Pulami	b Krishna Karki	16	62	2	0
D D’Souza	c Krishna Karki	b Avinash Karn	21	54	2	0
Rohit Singh	c Pradeep Airee	b R Biswokarma	4	18	0	0
Mohsin Khan	c P Baskota	b Bhuwan Karki	1	6	0	0
Saurabhkant Gir	st Subash Khakurel	b R Biswokarma	0	1	0	0
Justin James	not out		4	5	1	0
extras		(b0 lb0 w10 nb0)	10
TOTAL		10 wickets for	87

 

FOW

1-2 2-7 3-30 4-33 5-42 6-69 7-79 8-82 9-87 10-0

 

Bowler	O	M	R	W	wd	nb
Avinash Karn	7	1	13	2	5	-
Krishna Karki	10	1	15	2	1	-
Bhuwan Karki	7.2	2	14	2	-	-
R Biswokarma	9	1	18	3	3	-
P Baskota	9	2	14	1	1	-
Pradeep Airee	2	0	3	0	-	-
Rajesh Pulami	1	0	4	0	-	-
Sagar Pun	2	0	6	0	-	-

 

Nepal Innings 88/1 Closed (Overs 16.3)

Batsman	Fieldsman	Bowler	Runs	Bls	4s	6s
Subash Khakurel+	c Zamin Jaleel	b Aqib Malek	1	9	0	0
Faizrul Khan	not out		46	47	7	1
Sagar Pun	not out		37	43	6	0
extras		(b0 lb0 w4 nb0)	4
TOTAL		1 wickets for	88

 

FOW

1-8(Subash Khakurel)

 

Bowler	O	M	R	W	wd	nb
Aqib Malek	3	0	15	1	-	-
Saurabhkant Gir	1	0	6	0	2	-
Waleed Ahmad	6.3	0	33	0	2	-
SN Ramesh	1	0	17	0	-	-
Justin James	2	0	14	0	-	-
Chirag Suri	3	1	3	0	-	-

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The ACC U-19 Elite Cup cricket championship begins Tuesday in Bangkok with title-hopeful Nepal taking on UAE at AIT Ground in the one of the opening day matches.

“We are in a difficult group so even a single mistake can cost us dear,” coach Jagat Tamata said ahead of the match. “All matches are equally important for us.”

Nepal, the five-time winners and one-time finalist, will be hoping to begin the tournament at high notes. Nepal’s next matches are against dark-horse Oman and Afghanistan, who defeated Nepal in semifinal in last edition. Newly promoted Thailand is the other team in the ‘group of death’.

Historically, Nepal has upper hand. In previous three matches against UAE, Nepal had managed to win all of them easily. The last time, in 2007, by six wickets chasing 125. Earlier, Nepal had beaten UAE by 8 wickets in 2003 in Pakistan and by 106 runs in 2001 in Kathmandu.

As the preparation to the event, Nepal toured Bangladesh and UAE hosted Afghanistan ‘A’. UAE lost two one-day matches by 52 runs and 19 runs respectively. Nepal’s display against Bangladesh U-19 was dismal with all losses in two one-day and two T20 matches.

In 2009, Nepal failed to make to the final in 10 years thus losing the chance to qualify for the Youth World Cup for sixth time. The pressure in on the team now to reclaim the lost glory.

Prithu Baskota’s team not only faces tough challenge from opponents on ground, but there is also pressure off the ground. The inspiration that the team may feel lacking is the presence of coach Roy Dias.

This is the first tournament after Roy Dias’ departure and former national player Jagat Tamata is handling the team. Nepal toured Bangladesh for preparation where the failure in its batting was all evident – Bangladesh U-19 outplayed Nepal in two one-day and two T20 matches.

Prithu wants to ensure a place in semifinal winning first three matches. “Our first priority is entering semifinal as group winners,” he said. “So first match is important.”

Prithu was captain of the U-17 team that defeated UAE in the semifinals of the ACC U-17 Elite in Kathmandu two years ago. “But there has been changes in the team and they would play good as they practised against Afghanistan,” he said.

Nepali team is now complete after arrival of Rajesh Pulami and Rahul Pratap Singh who were absent in Bangladesh due to delay in passport issuance. Rajesh is likely to debut against UAE as Nepal is looking to strengthen batting taking a cue from performance in practice matches.

Group B of the event consists of defending champions Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Kuwait and Qatar. The two finalists will qualify to play in the Youth World Cup qualifiers to be held next year.

(Binod Pandey, a sports correspondent with Nagarik national daily, is the contributing editor of Cricket Nepal. He is traveling with the U-19 team.)

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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.

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Nepal, aiming to clinch the ACC U-19 Cup fifth time in a row, bowed out at the Hubara Ground, Kuwait.

After losing to Bangladesh in the finals of the 1999, Nepal had lifted the cup in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007. Man-of-the-match, Aimal Wafa remained 61 not out to deny the defending champions an entry into the final. Chasing a target of 187 runs set by Nepal at the loss of eight wickets, Afghanistan completed the chase in 47.1 overs with the loss of four wickets. Asgar added 47 runs.

For Nepal, Prithu Baskota led with the bat to put up a total of 186 runs. Baskota scored 81 runs while captain Gyanendra Malla added 31 runs. Likewise, Hamza Hotak shined with the ball for Afghanistan ending with the figure of three for 18.

“It is an end of an era of Nepal’s dominance in the U-19 cup. The other teams are better prepared that we were for the tournament. The senior players specially the batsmen have disappointed me,” coach Roy Dias commented after the match,” We did not have enough runs on the board for the strong Afghan batting line up. This is not the strongest team I have. The Afghans played well.”

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Nepal had already reached the semi-final of the tournament with a match against Hong Kong to spare. The 36-run Hong Kong win ensured their place in the last four as well. Man-of-the-match Irfan Ahmed scored a century as Hong Kong put up a target of 194 runs. Batsmen faltered in the flat pitch of the Unity Ground as Nepal was all out with 36 runs short of the target.

Anil Mandal top scored with 29 runs while Sagar Khadka and Sunny Pun added 25 and 18 runs respectively. Captain Gyanendra Malla who had batted well in the last couple of matches said his wicket was the turning point of the match. “My wicket was crucial. We lost the match from then on,” Malla said, “Today’s match has shown that we need to work hard on all departments of the game.” Nepal gave away 85 runs in the last ten overs.

Earlier, spinner Lal Bdr. Adhikari took three wickets for Nepal. Pacers Rupesh Shrivastav grabbed two wickets while Amril Bhattaria took one.

Coach Roy Dias praised Ahmed’s performance and said the batsmen let him down. “The boys gave away too many runs in the last ten overs and senior batsmen failed to perform once again.”

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