Nepal registered a thrilling one-wicket win over the host Malaysia in the ACC U-16 Elite Cup 2012.
Winning the toss, Malaysia chose to bat first. Nepal restricted them to 139 runs in 37.1 overs. Virandeep Singh scored 26 off 70 balls while Amin Amanda managed 28 off 28 balls with 1 fours and 1 six. Akash Bista took 2 wickets and gave away 21 runs. Rupesh Bastola, Dipendra Chand & Jagdish Chand took 1 wicket each.
Nepal needed 140 runs from 40 overs with the required run rate of 3.50 but the Malaysian bowlers troubled the Nepalese Batsmen from the start. At one stage, Nepal were 41/7 and kept on the losing the wickets.
At the end of 23rd over, Nepal lost their 9th wicket for 88 runs but the last wicket partnership between Akash Bista and Anup Neupane guided them to an unbelievable victory at the Kinrara ground in Malaysia. They reached the target without any hiccups in 38.5 overs. Man of the Match – Akash Bista played an heroic inning of 55 runs (93 balls, 4 fours, 1 six) to win the match out of nowhere. All the lower order batsmen Rupesh Bastola (18 runs), Kalicharan Yadav (11 runs) fought for their wicket and supported Akash at the other end.
Sharvin Muniandy destructed 4 wickets while Ainool Yatim, Pavandeep Singh & Ainool Yatim took two wickets each.
The stage is now set for the semi-finals on Friday.Nepal will take on Singapore while Oman will play Malaysia. Hong Kong will play Iran for the seventh place.
Friday’s schedule:
SF1: Oman v Malaysia at Bayuemas
SF2: Nepal v Singapore at Kinrara
7th Place: Hong Kong v Iran at Selangor Turf Club
