Nepal U-19 cricket team made a solid comeback with both bat and ball to edge Andhra Pradesh U-19 team by nine runs in their fourth practice match of their India tour in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday.

Batting first, Nepal recovered from 133-8 to post a respectable 221-9 in 50 overs. Andhra Pradesh were cruising towards victory reaching 92 without loss but Nepali spinners hit back to dismiss the hosts for 212 in 49.4 overs. It was third victory in the tour for Nepal who are fine tuning their preparations for the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier Asia starting in Malaysia from April 10.

Opener Pawan Sarraf made 32 off 60 with three hits to the fence and Rohit Kumar Paudel (22) was another notable scorer as Nepal looked virtually out of contest losing eight wickets with just 133 runs on the board. But Kushal Malla and Rashid Khan forged a match-winning 67-run partnership for the ninth wicket helping Nepal cross 200-run mark.

Malla, the latest find of domestic cricket, top scored with 48 not out from 57 deliveries with two sixes and as many boundaries. Khan contributed 41 off 40 with four boundaries and a maximum. Karthik Reddy, M Madav and Durga Kumar took two wickets each for Andhra Pradesh.

The local team made a strong reply after Harshavardhan and Nitesh Kumar started with a 92-run opening wicket stand. Bhim Sharki gave Nepal the breakthrough removing Harshavardhan, who made 36 off 60 with five boundaries. Kumar added another 40 runs for the second wicket with B Yogananda (20) taking Andhra Pradesh closer to victory.

However, once Sagar Dhakal had Kumar caught by wicketkeeper Aasif Sheikh, Andhra Pradesh continued to play under pressure. Andhra Pradesh lost five wickets for just 28 runs and Durga Kumar (25) brought them back in the game with a 41-run seventh wicket partnership with MK Datta Reddy (21). Kamal Singh Airee did the trick by trapping Durga leg before wicket as Andhra Pradesh lost the last four wickets for just 11 runs. Opener Kumar top scored with an 81-ball 74, hitting six fours and four sixes. Sarraf, Malla and Sharki took two wickets each for Nepal.

Nepal are on a 15-day practice tour of India. They will return home on April 1 and leave for Kuala Lumpur in the second week of the month to compete in the Qualifier. Nepal will play alongside Kuwait, Oman, Singapore Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates for the only available spot for the 2020 U-19 World Cup in South Africa.