Nepal suffered a 10-wicket loss against Afghanistan in the ACC Under-19  Premier at the Kinrara Oval grounds in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Saturday.

Electing to bat first, Nepal were bowled out for a paltry 123 runs in 47.5  overs before emerging South Asian cricketing giants cruised to victory  without losing a wicket in 25 overs.

Nepal were put early in the backfoot when  opener Sandeep Sunar was bowled by Naveen-ul-Haq without even scoring a run. The scores oon read 23-4 by the end of the 11th over after Nepal lost Rajbir Singh (duck), Aarif Sheikh (two) and skipper Raju Rijal (one). However, another opener Sunil Dhamala held firm at the other end to guide  his team’s total past 80.

Dhamala scored a patient 46 off 86 balls before  falling leg before to Perwez Malakzai in the 30th over. He shared 58 runs for the fifth wicket with Yogendra Karki.

Karki and Prem Tamang chipped in 20 runs each to give  some respectability to the Nepal total. Zia-ur-Rehman and Perwez Malakzai  were the pick of the Afghanistan bowlers with three wickets each, while  Naveen-Ul-Haq claimed two. In reply, Afghanistan openers Hazratullah and Nasir Khan steered their  side to victory with an unbroken stand. Harratullah struck six boundaries  and three sixes in his 71-ball 68 while Khan scored 57, his 79-ball knock  included seven hits to the fence.

Nepal, who opened the tournament with a 149-run win over the United Arab  Emirates on Friday, will next play Malaysia on Monday.

In the day’s other matches, Malaysia beat Kuwait by eight wickets and UAE hammered Saudi Arabia by 165 runs.

Malaysia chased down a 151-run target for the loss of two wickets in 37 overs thanks to a half century from opener Virandeep Singh (74 not out).

The UAE, meanwhile, compiled a mammoth 258 runs in 50 overs before restricting Saudi Arabia for 93 runs in 23.3 overs.

Ethan Holmes scored 67, Riyan Mohammad 46 and Kulith Rable 45 to post a big total.