Nepal defended a mediocre total to beat Malaysia by 72 runs in the semi-finals to inch close to the ACC U-16 Eastern Region cricket tournament title in Chiang Mai, Thailand on Saturday.

Nepali batsmen had merry making day when they hammered Myanmar by 337 runs after notching up a tournament high 350 runs in their last Group ‘A’ game. However, they had to struggle against a disciplined Malaysian bowling before reaching 127-8 in a match reduced to 34 overs at the Terdthai Cricket Grounds. 

Surya Tamang and man-of-the-match Pratish GC then ripped through Malaysia batting to bundle out the opponents for just 55 runs in 21.1 overs. Nepal will now take on Singapore in the final on Sunday. Singapore hammered Hong Kong by eight wickets in the other semi-final of the day.

Malaysia struggled throughout their chase once they started losing wickets from the second over. Apart from opener Sandesh Supparamaniam none of the Malaysian batsmen managed to score runs in double figures. Sandesh made 16 from 23 balls hitting three of the six boundaries that Malaysia got in the game. Their next biggest contributor of the game was 13 extras.

Muhammad Shahid Bin Adzli (eight not out) and Muhammad Amirul (eight) offered a brief resistance from the lower order to prolong Nepal’s wait for victory. While GC took crucial three wickets of Malaysia’s top five batsmen, Tamang returned the figures of 4-12 from seven overs. GC had the figures of 3-23 from six overs. Ajay Kumar Loniya and Nikhil Kumar Singh also had wicket each for Nepal.

Earlier, Nepal lost opener Kushal Malla (six) in the third over before his opening partner Rajan Magar tried to consolidate the innings with Bishal Bikram KC sharing 19 runs for the second wicket. Both Magar (11) and KC lost their wickets in a space of six runs. Skipper Rit Gautam (11) and tournament’s most consistent batsman Trit Raj Das (13) then brought Nepal’s biggest partnership of 24 runs before Aslam Khan Malik removed both batsmen.

Sunil Bhandari and Narayan Joshi added 23 runs for the sixth wicket as Nepal inched closer to triple figures. Bhandari scored 17 from 19 with two boundaries and Joshi struck two sixes in his 22-ball 17. 

GC stepped in and made some crucial runs that guided Nepal to what ultimately was a match-winning total. Allround GC posted a match-high 25 from 22 balls with a six and a boundary. Mohammad Afiq was the pick of the Malaysia bowlers taking 3-19 from four overs.

At the AIT grounds, Singapore restricted Hong Kong to 123 all out in 34.4 overs before they reached 125-2 in 24 overs. Opener Aman Desai struck a 70-ball 55 to steer Singapore into the final.

Summary

Nepal 127-8 in 34 overs (Pratish GC 25, S Bhandari 17, N Joshi 17; M Afiq 3-19, AK Malik 2-24) beat Malaysia 55 all out in 21.1 overs (S Supparamaniam 16, M Amirul 8; S Tamang 4, P GC 3-23) by 72 runs

Man-of-the-match: Pratish GC (NEP)