Sports
Nepal pull off battling victory
A half century from middle order batsman Dipendra Singh Airee guided Nepal to a narrow 22-run victory over hosts Singapore as the second leg of the ICC U-19 World Cup Division 1 Qualifier for Asia region began on Friday.A half century from middle order batsman Dipendra Singh Airee guided Nepal to a narrow 22-run victory over hosts Singapore as the second leg of the ICC U-19 World Cup Division 1 Qualifier for Asia region began on Friday.
Electing to bat first at the Indian Association Ground, Nepal’s batting woes continued as the team was bundled out for just 168 runs in 46.5 overs. Airee rose to the occasion scoring 83-ball 54 to help Nepal build a respectable total. Singapore were inching towards victory at 139-5 at one stage but went on to lose their last five wickets for just seven runs, eventually restricted for 146 in 46.5 overs.
The result meant Nepal stay second with six points from four games. Afghanistan, who crushed Nepal by 141 runs in the last match of the first leg on Thursday, sit at the top of the table with four consecutive victories. On Friday, they hammered Malaysia by 10 wickets.
The table-toppers after the double round robin league will qualify for the 2018 U-19 World Cup to be held in New Zealand. While Afghanistan are currently in a pole position to qualify for World Cup, Nepal need victories with exceedingly big margin in their remaining matches against Malaysia and Afghanistan to go through.
Nepali batsmen have failed to fire so far and Friday’s game against the hosts was not an exception. Promoted up the order, Anil Sah lost his wicket for seven and the opener was followed to pavilion by Pranit Thapa Magar (eight) and Aasif Sheikh (three). Another opener Sandeep Sunar and Airee offered resistance with a 35-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Sunar was Nepal’s second best scorer making 26 off 55 balls with two boundaries and a six, and after his departure Airee added another 41 runs for the fifth wicket with Rohit Kumar Paudel (15). Nepal then lost Paudel, Airee and new-man Pawan Sarraf in quick succession as they were reduced to 144-7.
Prakash KC, brought back into the side, made quick runs, scoring 23-ball 20 with three boundaries to ensure Nepal post what ultimately turned out to be a winning total. Airee’s knock included two sixes and as many boundaries. Bikram Biswaray picked up 3-29 from 10 overs, while Aryaman Sunil and Gopinath Aahan had two scalps apiece for Singapore.
Singapore had a strong start after Rohan Rangarajan (23) and Sean Agarwal (21) added 40 runs for the first wicket. After Rohan’s departure, Agarwal and Sidhant steadied their innings with a 36-run stand. From 76-1 in 22.5 overs, Singapore crashed to 94-5 in 33.1. Sidhant was one of them to go for 25 off 58 with three hits to the fence.
Hansul Deep Singhania and No 4 batsman Yuvraj Singh (19) pulled Singapore back in contention with a 45-run stand before Nepal skipper Sandeep Lamichhane triggered the collapse by removing the former. Singhania top scored for the hosts with a 30-ball 32 that included two sixes and a four. Lamichhane, who had picked up 12 wickets prior to this match, continued to impress with his leg spin, taking 4-22 from 10 overs. Left-arm seamer Kishor Mahato and spinner Pawan Sarraf also took two wickets each.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan had another easy ride bundling out Malaysia for just 58 runs in 22.2 overs before racing to victory by scoring 62-0 in 5.4 overs. Off-spinner Mujeeb Zadran picked up 6-23 from 10 overs for Afghanistan. The gulf between Afghanistan and rest of the other nations in the tournament is evident by the fact that no team has been able to score triple figures against them so far.
Summary
Nepal 168 in 46.5 overs (DS Airee 54, S Sunar 26; BB Biswaray 3-29, G Aahan 2-31) beat Singapore 146 in 46.5 overs (SH Deep 32, Sidhant 25; S Lamichhane 4-22) by 22 runs
Man-of-the-match: DS Airee (NEP)
Standings
Team P W L N/R Pts NRR
Afghanistan 4 4 0 0 8 +3.842
Nepal 4 3 1 0 6 +0.456
Singapore 4 1 3 0 2 -0.657
Malaysia 4 0 4 0 0 -4.654