“We conducted bone, chronological, physiological and dental age tests to all players and only named those in the team who were found of right age,” Binaya Raj Pandey, the CAN president, said in a press conference. “We had no over-age players in the team and ACC decision to disqualify us was wrong.”

Pandey also criticized ACC for having a flawed verification system. “ACC’s test in May 2006 showed that the age of a Nepali player, Prajesh Bahadur Singh, to be 13.7 years. But in November this year, he was found of over 16 years old,” he said questioning the authenticity of the tests.

CAN also claimed that ACC’s behavior showed they too did not believe in the results. “First, ACC decided to disqualify three teams and revised the tie-sheet on December 1, but when Nepal protested that, they decided to disqualify seven teams and held a final between Kuwait and Singapore,” he informed. “Besides, they have not given us any documents about the tests so far.”

Pandey also criticized ACC for holding a decisive meeting without him, one of the members of the Age Verification Committee. Accepting that ACC has shown immaturity in the decision-making, Pandey added that CAN had a plan to ensure no such disgrace in future. “We will send test reports of all regional players to ACC two months in advance and only select team with the players confirmed by them,” he said.

CAN has formally sent a protest letter to ACC in this regard and hoping for their reply soon.

On Dec 1, ACC has disqualified seven nations – Nepal, Hong Kong, Afghanistan, Thailand, Malaysia, Oman and Saudi Arabia for fielding overage players in the ACC U-15 Elite Cup held in Kathmandu. UAE was earlier disqualified for not meeting the playing conditions leaving only two ‘legitimate’ teams – Kuwait and Singapore, who contested in the final.

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The event, sponsored by Varus Beverages (Nepal) Pvt Ltd, will be a selection event for the upcoming ACC U-15 Elite Cup to be held in Nepal in Late November.

Six regional teams will compete in the event. The teams are divided in two groups and the winners and runners-up from each group qualify for the semifinals.

Region No 1 (Biratnagar), Region No 3 (Kathmandu) and Region No 6 (Baitadi) are in Group A while Region No 2 (Birgunj), Region No 4 (Bhairahawa) and Region No 5 (Nepalgunj) are in Group B.

All the league matches will be played in the Institute of Engineering Ground while the final and a semifinal will be played in the Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground.

Schedule
League Matches
Oct 29 – Bhairahawa vs Nepalgunj
Oct 30 – Birgunj vs Nepalgunj
Oct 31 – Birgunj vs Bhairahawa
Nov 1 – Biratnagar vs Baitadi
Nov 2 – Biratnagar vs Kathmandu
Nov 3 – Kathmandu vs Baitadi

Semifinals
Nov 4 – A1 vs B2 – TU Cricket Ground
B1 vs A2 – IOE Ground

Final
Nov 6 – TU Cricket Ground

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CAN President Binaya Raj Pandey and Pepsi’s Nepal President Ravi Jayapuria signed the sponsorship worth Rs. 1.2 million per year amidst a program. The amount will increase by 10 per cent each year.

According to the deal, Pepsi will be the sponsor of all U-15 tournaments, including official sponsor of the national team in the upcoming ACC U-15 Elite Cup. Pepsi will also provide jerseys and trophies for all regional and national competitions

Talking about the upcoming inter-school competition, Pandey said that the players would only be allowed to participation after the respective schools verify the age. “Nepal has faced several problems in age-group tournaments due to players’ age,” Pandey said during the program. “So, players will be allowed to participate only after age verification from their respective schools and this is organized for the national team selection for the upcoming ACC U-15 Tournament.”

He also informed that a separate competition would be organized in association with Private and Boarding Schools’ Organization of Nepal (PABSON).

In the program, Jayapuria said that Pepsi had wanted to help Nepali cricket for a long time. “We are proud to be associated with Nepali cricket and we want to take this to the grassroots,” Jayapuria promised.

Surya Nepal and John Players currently sponsor the national team while Wai Wai is the sponsor of the U-19 cricket.

Photo by NepalPhotoAgency

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“This is my biggest achievement with Nepal Cricket so far,” said coach Roy Dias for whom it was yet another feather in his cap. “It is a miracle because none of the boys had played a proper cricket match prior to representing the country at international level and they had the tag of defending champion to handle. It proves that Nepali players are naturally superior in the region because these boys were hand picked with three days remaining for the tournament.”

In the drawn final Nepal acquired 16 bonus points against UAE’s eight to win the inaugural tournament in this format. Nepal, largely due to the performance of the best batsman of the tournament Subendu Pandey, gave UAE a mammoth target of 303 runs to win with just over an hour of play remaining on the second day today.

Earlier, Nepal wiped out UAE tail this morning in just two overs at 75 runs. Nepal could have enforced the follow on but coach Roy Dias opted to play safe and Nepal resumed its second innings.

Sagar Pun (3) did not last long as Nepal lost the first wicket with just 12 runs on the board. However, the other opener Subendu resumed from where he had left on the first day and hammered UAE bowlers all around the park. In his 82 runs, the highest individual score for Nepal in the tournament, he hit 12 fours and played 111 balls. For his 133 runs in the match, he was adjudged the man of the final as well.

“I would like to dedicate my success to the entire team and officials,” said the opener who scored three fifties to total 239 in four matches in the tournament. He was dropped for the first match against Malaysia. “It has also added an extra sense of responsibility as there will be expectations from next time around.”

Skipper Prithu Banskota also contributed responsibly with 35 runs before being trapped leg before. He shared a 69-run third wicket stand with Subendu to help Nepal pile up the lead past 300 runs.

He hit two half centuries and was the second highest scorer for Nepal totaling 189 runs in five matches.

Santosh Bhatta (16) and Pradeep Aire (18) were the other significant contributors in the second innings for Nepal which was bowled out for 200 runs in 74.4 overs. For UAE, skipper Manish Kishor Dhakan took five wickets.

In the UAE second innings, Krishna Karki and Rochak Bhatta claimed a wicket each as both the captains agreed to call it a day with half an hour of play remaining when UAE was 49/2 in 10.5 overs. Right arm medium fast bowler Krishna was one of the highest wicket takers of the tournament taking 20 wickets including the finals. Legspinner Rochak Bhatta, on the other hand, took his wicket count to 14 with a wicket each in two innings of the final.

Nepal was one of the most disciplined team of the tournament as well and received all-round applause during the presentation ceremony where over a dozen of Nepali students cheered for Nepal. President of Malaysian Cricket Association Prince Tunku Imran gave away the trophy to Nepal while ACC CEO Ashrafful Haq awarded UAE. David Mathias, Bahrain captain was declared the best all-rounder and the best bowler with well over 200 runs and 25 wickets in the tournament. Sankarsh Salman of Bahrain was declared the best wicket-keeper.

Text/Photo: Devendra Subedi, Malaysia

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Nepal made it to the final of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) U-15 Elite Cup Cricket Tournament with another day of resolute batting performance in the second day of the drawn semifinal against Bahrain at the Kelab Aman Ground.

Bibek Dali and Surendra Chand led Nepal in the second day with a half century each as Bahrain got no chance whatsoever to come back in the match after conceding the first innings lead.

Nepal now faces the UAE in the finals on the Wednesday at the Kinrara Cricket Ground as host Malaysia conceded the another drawn semifinal on bonus points.

Resuming at the overnight score of 65/6 in 38 overs, Bahrain played only eight more overs and added 27 runs. Bahrain declared the innnings soon after loosing captain David Mathias for 41 when the total was 92/8 when the team was still 77 runs behind Nepal.

Nepal, in the second innings gave no chance for Bahrain and batted 75 overs to settle for a draw and cash in on the five bonus points on the first innings lead. By virtue of the lead Nepal ended up in the draw with 13 points while Bahrain could only manage 7 bous points.

Rochak Bhatta claimed the Bahrain skipper in the sixth over of the day while he ran out Anant Bhal, the the overnight Bahrain batsman for 14 runs in the same over. He ended up picking three wickets in the innings.

In the second innings Bibek Dali and Surendra Chand shared a 97-run fifth wicket partnership to ensure the draw for Nepal when Bahrain skipper struck twice in a single over to reduce Nepal to 12/3. Opener Subendu Pandey and Aakash Pariyar failed miserably once again to score returning to the pavilion for nought while Sagar Pun made 10 runs before falling as the third Nepal wicket in the fifth over. Prithu Banskota and Surendra Chand then shared a 36-run fourth wicket stand to give some comfort to the rokies but soon Prithu was trapped infornt by David for eight runs.

The most important contributor for Nepal was Bibek came up with a big performance to cover up his earlier failures. He scored unbeaten 80 runs with two boundaries. Chand, who also had been unable to impress in the last three matches, made 54 runs. Dali played 165 balls while chand innings was of 151 balls. The partnership sent Bahrain crushing out of the semifinals. Santosh Bhatta made nine runs while the other not out batsman Krishna Karki made five runs.

Every run of the partnership was cheered by a handful of Nepali students present on the ground who turned up in the ground right from the beginning of the match with food stuff and drinks to the players in the sweltering heat of Malaysia where the mercury is hovering around mid 30s. Nepal declared the innings at 200/7 with just half of the last hour remaining for the day with a victroy target of 277. Both the captains decided to settle for a draw and Nepal with more bonus points in the match qualified for the finals.

Pradeep Airee, who scored a match saving half century (50) for Nepal in the first innings and took one wicket as well was declared the man of the match.

“I’m really happy and proud of the boys,”said coach Roy Dias whose plan of batting Bahrain out of the match in the second innings was well supported by the batters. “Dali in my openion batted superbly and Chand also came amongst run.” When asked about the batting failures of the main batsmen , Prithu and Aakash, Roy said that as long as the team performs he would not care individual performances.

“I think my earlier failures can be covered by this innings for which i’m really happy,”said Dali who hails from Kaliaya. Elated manager Basanta Raj Satyla said that the suspected looking Nepali batting line up is coming up with tearms in every match and he is confident about Nepal’s victory in the finals.

Assistant caoch Suresh Datta Pandey and Assistant manager Chatur Bahdur Chand also expressed their confidence of Nepal defending the ACC U-15 Cup title.

Photo/Text by Devendra, Malaysia

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Pradeep scored his maiden half-century (50*) in just 57 deliveries with seven boundaries when Nepal was under pressure at 109/7 to take the total to 169/9. Nepal further strengthened its position in the match taking six Bahrain wickets before the end of play. Bahrain is at 65/6 in 38 overs and is still 104 runs behind the defending champion.

Pradeep, who came in at number eight for Nepal, took the initiative and played attacking cricket. “Pradeep batted us out of trouble with a very good innings. To play such an innings under pressure will also do a great deal to the team’s morale,”said coach Roy Dias in appreciation. “I never believed that I would be able to play such an innings. I can’t express my happiness,”said the 10th grader from Mahendranagar.

Earlier, opener Sagar Pun played his part after skipper Prithu Banskota decided to bat first. He and Subendu Pandey gave Nepal a good start with a 32-run opening stand before Subendu edged one to the wicketkeeper for 14 runs. Sagar went on to score 48 valuable runs for nepal at the top in his usual long inings hitting two boundaries off 108 balls. Prithu lost his middle stump while trying to cut one outside off stump for seven runs while Aakash also edged one behind the stumps for a couple of runs.

Nepal at one stage was reeling at 109/7 with still 14 overs remaining in the first innings and looked like giving Bahrain full bowling bonus points. Then Pradeep went on a rampage counter-attacking the Bahrain bowlers. He came in in the 44th over and remained unbeaten as Nepal did well to concede only four bowling points losing nine wickets. Moreover, he took Nepal past 150 runs that gave Nepal one batting bonus points. He hit Bahrain captain David Mathias for three boundaries in the 48th over to stamp Nepal’s authority in the match.

Ayush Sharma, who only scored six runs, did very well to stay with him till the 56th over. Rochak Bhatta who joined in as the last batsman remained unbeaten on nought but played 14 balls in the 17-run last wicket partnership. Santosh Bhatta scored seven runs playing 28 balls while Surendra Chand made six in 25 balls. Bibek Dali did not trouble the scorers while Krishna Karki got one.

Salman Saikh was the most successful Bahrain bowler taking five wickets for 34 runs in 11 overs while skipper David and Karan Singh took two wickets each.

Nepal earned three bowling bonus points too on the day rattling Bahrain to 65/6. Krishna Karki gave Nepal a double breakthrough in his fifth over. He first removed opener Samuel Vegas for seven runs while vice captain and wicket keeper Aakash Pariyar’s brilliance gave him his second wicket in the next ball as he stumped Sameer Zulfiqar for nought. Skipper Prithu once again led Nepal in the field with a brilliant run out of opener Divyesh Nambiar (10) with a direct hit from the point region as Bahrain was reduced to 26/3 in 16 overs.

Nepal’s batting hero Pradeep Airee gave Nepal another breakthorugh in the 25th over while leggie Rochak Bhatta claimed the last two wickets of the day. Skipper David Mathias is unbeaten for Bahrain on

26 runs while the other not out batsman Anant Bahl is playing on seven.

Nepal will look to bowl out Bahrain as early as possible and take lead in the first innings that will yield five bonus points in case of a draw. Nepal can even go for an outright win if it can declare with enough time to take 10 Bahrain wickets.

So far Nepal and Bahrain have got four bonus points each on the first day.

By Devendra, Malaysia

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Nepal outplayed Singapore pocketing 12 points, due to the first innings lead, to strengthen its second position in the group. Nepal accumulated a total of 31 bonus points in the three league matches while Singapore could only manage 8 points in the match and a total of 26 points.

Malaysia, with two outright wins, moved into the semifinals as the group winner with 55 points. Nepal now meets Group B leader Bahrain on Sunday at the same ground. From Group B, UAE entered the last four pulling a surprise win against Kuwait.

For Nepal, man of the match Subendu Pandey made a valiant half century in the second innings as Nepal gave Singapore the target of 186 runs in more than an hour’s play. When the match ended Singapore was 71/3 after 19 overs.

Earlier in the morning, Singapore resumed their first innings. The first breakthrough came in the very first over of the day with wicket keeper and vice captain Aakash Pariyar running out Singapore skipper Timothy Rushil. Opener Korak Ganguly topscored with 36 runs as Singapore declared the first innings at 72/9 in 48 overs.

Nepal claimed four bowling points in the innings much due to the improved performance from leg spinner Rochak Bhatta. He took three wickets in 15 overs giving away 20 runs while Krishna Karki added one more wicket to his overnight two wickets. Nepal was brilliant in the field today affecting two more run outs.

In the second innings, opener Subendu was the only one to score with Aakash Pariyar (12*) as the other top scoring batsman. Aakash retired hurt in two runs because of back pain and later resumed the innings at the fall of 6th wicket. Subendu on the other hand kept Nepal’s pursuit to the semifinals alive scoring 59 runs. In his 123-ball innings, he hit five fours before being bowled out by Alagppan Senthil. Five of Nepali batsmen including skipper Prithu Banskota, Bibek Dali, Santosh Bhatta, Rochak Bhatta and Krishna Karki, did not score.

Rezza Gaznavi and Alagppan Senthil were the most successful bowlers for Singapore taking three wickets each as Nepal conceded five bowling bonus points to Singapore in the second innings. Nepal could have opted for a declaration with the lead of over 150 and try to take more bowling bonus points, if not go for an outright win, in Singapore second innings but coach Roy Dias did not take the risk and went on to ensure Nepal’s entry into the semifinals.

In the second Singapore innings Nepal only managed one bowling points taking three Singapore wickets but by virtue of the first innings lead, Nepal accumulated five more bonus points in the draw. Pradeep Airee took two wickets while Krishna Karki, one of the leading wicket takers of the tournament with 14 wickets, claimed the other wicket for Nepal.

“I ‘m really happy because I to go to the last four with just a bunch of rookies is a great performance,” said a relieved coach Dias. “I had confidence and was able to play this innings for my country,” said an excited Pandey who was dropped for the first match and promoted as an opener in the last match.

Photos/Text by Devendra, Malaysia

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Prithu made a brilliant half century to ensure Nepal a batting bonus point as it finished the first innings at 156/7 after Singapore elected to field first. In his 126-ball innings, Prithu made 51 valiant runs. He returned one back to Reeza Gaznavi off his own bowling to end his inning while Nepal was on 144.

Subendu Pandey, in the changed role of an opener, opened his account with a boundary towards square leg and played well for his 24 runs scored in 53 balls with three fours. Nepal got a good start of 33/0 in 9 overs before Sagar Pun misjudged a run and got out off a direct hit. He made 12 runs.

The other opener Akash Pariyar once again was trapped leg before the wicket trying a sweep shot. He got 13 runs. Prithu, next to the crease, played superbly to register his second consecutive half century of the tournament.

“We got a good start and playing full quota of 60 overs along with scoring 150 plus was really important to us,” reacted the skipper. “We have to ensure first innings lead in the second day that gives us a chance to qualify for the cup semis.”

He shared the all important 55-run partnership with Bibek Dali who contributed 14 runs but played 85 balls. Surendra Chand, demoted to the middle order form his opening role, remained unbeaten on 7 runs while Krishna Karki made two runs. The last batsman out for Nepal Santosh Bhatta did not open his account as Nepal finished at 156/7 in the allotted 60 overs.

“The boys batted well. They did very well not to concede more than three bowling bonus points to Singapore,” said coach Roy Dias. Dias also said that in the second day Nepal would look to take as many wickets as possible as well as restrict Singapore below 155.

Singapore, in its first innings, is at 42/2 in 25 overs. Once again Krishna Karki provided Nepal the breakthroughs striking twice in his sixth over. He removed Arvav Garg (0) in the fourth ball followed by the wicket of Sachin Mylavarapu (0).

With rain stopping play with half an hour of play still remaining, the match only has 90 overs in the second day. If Nepal ensures lead in the first innings and the match ends in a draw, Nepal would have a good chance to qualify to the cup semifinals with higher bonus points. Nepal so far accumulated two points, one batting and one bowling, today with possibility of five more bonus point in case of a draw and having first innings lead.

On the other hand, Singapore got three bowling bonus points taking seven Nepali wickets. Currently, both the teams have equal bonus points, 21 each. With the heavy afternoon shower, play tomorrow seems unlikely to start on time all suggesting the importance of maintaining the first innings lead for both the teams. Singapre has got 35 overs to make 114 runs to take first innings lead.

By Devendra, Malaysia

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However, Nepal accumulated 10 bonus points from the match to climb to the second position in the Group A standings keeping alive hopes to enter the last four.

Nepal managed a 65-run first innings lead after Hong Kong declared their innings on 87/9. Nepal had scored 152/7 in the first innings. Nepal could have chances of wining the match if the weather had permitted full 90 overs of play but it was the case the play was abandoned after the lunch.

Hong Kong played 47 overs in which Zuaid Khan topscored with 38 runs. Nepal picked up nine Hong Kong wickets that yielded 4 points as Hong Kong cleverly declared its first innings 65 runs behind Nepal.

Krishna Karki once again shone with the ball for Nepal. The lanky seamer picked up three wickets in his 18 overs today giving away 26 runs. In the hot and humid conditions he bowled a long spells to spearhead Nepali attack. Bibek Dali also picked up three wickets in his 12 overs while three of Hong Kong Batsmen were run out.

With just 22 overs of day’s play remaining and the match heading for a certain draw Nepal started its second innings. When the match ended, Nepal was 133 runs ahead. Aakash Pariyar got a decent knock of 43 runs with three hits to the fence. Before he was caught at short mid wicket, he shared a 66-run second wicket stand with opener Sagar Pun who once again showed tremendous patience playing 86 balls for his 16. Prithu Banskota did not bother to score while the other not out batsman was Subendu Pandey.

Suprisingly Nepal did not declare the second innings to give a few overs at the end of the match to Hong Kong. If Nepal had claimed a few wickets with the lead already beyond 100 runs, that could have added few more points.

“I decided not to take the risk because Hong Kong had some good stroke players and we could have ended up loosing the match. Moreover, with the all important match against Singapore coming up, I wanted my batsmen to have a knock at the center,” said coach Roy Dias.

Now Nepal has accumulated 19 points from two games to climb at the second spot of the Group A standings. Malaysia, that today registered a ten wicket win over Singapore, is leading the table with 32 points. Nepal is closely followed by Singapore with 18 points. Malaysia is already through to the semifinals and the second team would be the winner between Nepal vs Singapore match that starts on June 1.

Nepal skipper Prithu Banskota was declared the man of the match for his gritty 31 in the first innings of the match.

By Devendra, Kuala Lumpur

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Prithu led the way for Nepal to score past 150 runs in the first innings that confirms Nepal one batting bonus points. Nepal ended the first innings after being put in by Hong Kong at 153/7 in the allotted 60 overs in the rain curtailed first day of the two-day match. Hong Kong has just began the first innings with two runs without any loss in three overs as only 63 overs of play was possible.

“This is a good improvement from the last game. They have a lot to learn and as they keep on playing matches they will definately put up a better show,” said relived Roy Dias who shoulders the onus of coaching the defending champion.

“It was difficult at the earlier part but i settled well as i got a start. I had never thought that I would make a half century for my country,” said the elated skipper who is playing his only second international match.

Nepal however had a disastrous start loosing opener Surendra Chand for naught but his opening partner Sagar Pun put his head down to make 25 runs, more importantly played 103 balls before he was out in the 36th over. Akash Pariyar once again was trapped leg before sweeping across the line for 10 promising runs as Nepal slumped to 14/2 in the 13th over.

Then came skipper and put up a gritty performance to bail Nepal out of yet another batting failure. He made 51 runs before being caught at leg slip off Mark Chapman. The 9th grader from Galaxy Public School hit four boundaries in his 120-ball innings. He shared a very important 59-run 3rd wicket stand with Sagar. Subendu Pandey replacing Binod Lama in the second match hit a four in his 8 runs that lasted for 24 deliveries.

Bibek Dali once again got run out trying a quick single for well made 12 runs followed by another run out of Krishna Karki who contirbuted 8 runs. Santosh Bhatta (9*) and Pradeep Airee (10*) ensured Nepal did not loose any more wickets inthe allotted 60 overs. “It was a really good of the boys to deny Hong Kong full bowling bonus points,” said Roy lauding Nepal’s batting. Hong Kong only got 3 bowling bonus points for taking seven wickets. Every two wickets give the bowling side one bonus points.

For Hong Kong Hiaz Ali came up with a 3-wicket taking wobling performance in his 14 overs that produced Nepal 27 runs. With more than twohours of playing time lost, Hong Kong only had three overs in their first innings as rain with thunderstorm interrupted the play in the last session. Hong Kong will resume the second day 2/0.

Nepal will try to bowl out Hong Kong cheaply in the second day to ensure it maintains the first innings lead which in case of a draw yields five bonus points. With just 90 overs of play remaining and two more innings to commence, Nepal would also want to earn as much bowling points as it can, maximum 5 for bowling the opponent all out, in the second day.

“I expect the seamers to get early break through tomorrow and the spinners to get through the Hong Kong middle order and the tail,” said Roy Dais. Krishna Karki who took seven wickets in the last match against Malaysia will be the key bowler for Nepal tomorrow while leg spinner Rochak Bhatta along with Subendu Pandey and Binek Dali will be the spinners for Nepal.

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