Nepali U-19 coach Binod Das on Saturday termed ACC U-19 Asia Cup a successful tour but admitted his side failed collectively against Afghanistan that saw Nepal crash out of the semi-finals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Thursday.

Nepal had displayed a solid performance in the group stage stunning India for their first ever victory over the Test giants  and almost snatching out a win against Bangladesh. Another clinical performance against hosts Malaysia had put them in the semi-finals.

But their Asia Cup fairytale ended in the last four after the team surrendered meekly against Afghanistan when the team was bowled for a paltry 103 runs. With a strong batting line-up, the Afghans cantered to victory in just 20.3 overs winning the match by seven wickets. “The loss against Afghanistan was one of those things that didn’t went our way,” said Das after the team returned from Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

“We were actually looking for scores of 220 or 230 from the beginning but none of the batsmen managed to apply themselves. Our plans with the bat didn’t go well and I must say that it was a collective failure for us,” added the coach. Nepal had left for Malaysia with a morale boosting victory over Bangladesh in their preparation tour but it preceded a debacle in July’s ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers where the team were outplayed by Afghans and even struggled against lowly ranked non-Test teams.

“Our confidence was dented a bit after going down to the Afghans. We could have cashed in on the achievements in the group stage. But being the semi-finalists of the Asia Cup, it was a successful campaign overall,” said Das.

Nepal were especially lauded for their batting performance against Bangladesh and India because it came from a team that completely looked like having no clue to bat during the Qualifiers. Das wanted to better their current qualities. “The boys are batting with a lot of clarity. They are learning batting approach according to match conditions. If we have to give continuity to that, they must be given competitive matches regularly.”