Sports
Sunar, Khan bat Nepal to yet another big win
Half centuries from opener Sandeep Sunar and Aadil Khan along with an allround display from Pawan Sarraf gave Nepal U-19 team a second consecutive victory in their preparation tour of India on Wednesday.Half centuries from opener Sandeep Sunar and Aadil Khan along with an allround display from Pawan Sarraf gave Nepal U-19 team a second consecutive victory in their preparation tour of India on Wednesday.
At the Gautam Buddha University Stadium in Greater Noida, Nepal crushed Gurugram Sports Club by 249 runs after posting a mammoth 338-9 in 50 overs. Sarraf then picked up four wickets as the local side was bundled out for just 89 runs in 29.1 overs. With a mammoth to chase, Gurugram kept losing wickets at regular intervals and No 3 batsman Pratap Singh was their leading scorer with 28 runs from 35 balls with five boundaries.
Aakash Sisodhiya (18), Vivek Rai (15) and Arvind Kumar (11) were the remaining batsmen to reach double figures. Bikram Bhushal and Rohit Kumar Paudel also picked up two wickets each for Nepal.
Earlier, Nepal lost opener Aasif Sheikh (one) with 21 runs on the board before Sunar and Khan added 75 runs for the second wicket. Sunar was out for 58 off 47 with seven fours and a six. Nepal soon lost Paudel (four) and Prakash KC (12) before Khan put on another 75-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Dipendra Singh Airee.
Khan then lost his wicket in the 38th over after making 75 from 100 balls with two sixes and as many fours. Airee was next to depart for 58 off 57 with five boundaries. From 230-6 in 39.2 overs, Sarraf and Pranit Thapa Magar (28) pushed the team towards 300-run mark with a 61-run partnership. Sarraf hammered four sixes and a boundary in his 22-ball 47. Skipper Sandeep Lamichhane was unbeaten on 17. Manish Rai, Himanshu Hari, Shishpal Singh and Pratap Singh took two wickets each for the local side.
Nepal are preparing for the June 17-25 ICC U-19 World Cup Division 1 Asia Qualifier to be held in Singapore. After few more practice matches, the team will leave directly for Singapore on July 14. They had beaten Friends Sports Academy by 121 runs in the first practice game on Tuesday.