Nepal U19’s top-order batter, Naren Bhatta, displayed an exceptional performance by scoring a century in the final of the ACC Men’s U16 East Zone Cup. His remarkable knock played a pivotal role in guiding Nepal to a formidable total of 252 runs in the allotted 35 overs against Malaysia U16.
Despite a cracking start, Nepal found themselves in a precarious position at four wickets down for 112 runs. However, Bhatta took charge of the situation and single-handedly turned the match in Nepal’s favour. With his brilliant batting display, he notched up a century in just 82 balls.
Bhatta’s unbeaten innings of 112 runs came off only 89 deliveries and featured ten fours and two sixes. His aggressive approach and calculated strokes proved to be the driving force behind Nepal’s dominant performance.
The young talent had set the tone for his exceptional performance right from the beginning of the tournament. In the opening match against Thailand, Bhatta notched up a blistering unbeaten knock of 55 runs. Although he faced setbacks in the matches against Malaysia and Singapore, being dismissed for 29 and 3 runs, respectively, he made a powerful comeback in the all-important final.
Nepal emerged as the champions after outplaying Malaysia by massive 221 runs. Abhishek Tiwari picked up a fifer to restrict the home side to a mere 31 runs.
Nepal were the champion of the ACC U16 Cup in 2017 and 2019 too.
