Nepal opened the ACC U-19 Eastern Region cricket tournament with 255-run  hammering of Thailand at the Club Aman in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on  Monday.

Put into bat first, Nepal made light of the Thailand bowlers to amass 281-7  in 50 overs. Thailand crashed to a humiliating 26 runs in 10 overs thanks  to a seven-wicket haul from star leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane.

Although Anil Kumar Sah and Pranit Thapa Magar scored the bulk of the runs,  all the other Nepali batsmen also chipped in valuable runs to the total. Sah fell nine runs shot of a century and Thapa Magar scored 50. Sah  clobbered five sixes and six fours in his 74-ball whirlwind knock, while  Thapa Magar hit three boundaries and a six in his 61-ball stay at the  crease.

It was of a case of team contribution rather than some individual effort  that pave way for the mammoth Nepali total as openers Sandeep Sunar (32)  and Asif  Sheikh (21) put on a composed 34-run stand for the first wicket.  Rohit Kumar Paudel (28), skipper Dipendra Singh Airee (22) and Pawan Sarraf  (22) also made healthy contribution to help Nepal post a big total.

Payuputh Sungnard was pick of the Thailand bowlers with 3-61 off 10 overs,  while Panasak Daenmalidoi took two wickets.

In reply, Thailand made a worst possible start to the run chase losing  opener Swat Rastanaumnuaykool to Nandan Yadav without scoring a single run  on the board. Then onwards former U-19 skipper Lamichhane took the centre  stage to demolish the Thai innings. Lamichhane finished with figures of 7-6  in just four overs. Apart from Yadav, Kishor Mahoto and skipper Airee also  claimed one wicket each. None of the Thailand bowlers could score in double  figure.

Nepal coach Binod Das was all praise over the performance of his batsmen. “As planned every one chipped in to the total which is a great sign,” said the former national team stalwart adding that his team still have rooms for improvement. Nepal next take on Bhutan on September 13 before playing against Singapore  in their Group ‘A’ matches. Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Myanmar are in  Group ‘B’.

Top two teams from each pool will make it to the semi-finals on September 16. The final is scheduled for September 17. Only the champions will make it to the ACC U-19 Asia Cup which will also  be hosted by Malaysia in November.

Summary

Nepal 281-7 in 50 overs (AK Sah 91, P Thapa Magar 50; P Sungnard 3-61, P Daenmalidoi 2-60) beat Thailand 26 in 10 overs (P Daenmalidoi 8; S Lamichhane 7-6, N Yadav 1-3, K Mahato 1-4, DS Airee 1-2) by 255 runs

Man-of-the-match: S Lamichhane (NEP)