Nepal lost to India ‘B’ Team by 40 runs in their first match of the Quadrangular U-19 One Day Series in Lucknow, India, on Wednesday.

Electing to bat first in a low scoring match at the Ekana International Cricket Stadium, Nepal restricted India ‘B’ to 161 runs in 49 overs. But chasing the low score, Nepali top order collapsed before eventually being restricted to 121 runs with 51 balls to spare.

Openers Trit Raj Das and Ravi Shah fell for eight runs each and they were soon followed by Bipin Rawal (two) and Sundeep Zora (four) as Nepal were in deep trouble at 28-4 in 15.5 overs. Skipper Aasif Sheikh and Bhim Sharki tried to halt the slide with a 38-run partnership—the biggest for Nepal—before Pankaj Yadav dismissed both set batsmen.

Sheikh made 17 from 40 balls with three hits to the fence. Sharki was next to go for the team’s top score of 30. He hit four boundaries in his 57-ball innings. Kamal Singh Airee was the second best scorer making a 27-ball 22 with two sixes while Pawan Sarraf (12) was the fourth and the only batsman to score runs in double figures. Yadav returned with the miserly figures of 3-22 from 10 overs, while Shubhang Hegde took 3-29. Sahil Raj also took two wickets for the winning side.

Earlier, opener and man-of-the-match Qamran Iqbal made the difference scoring exactly 50 from 56 balls with five fours and two sixes. Nepali bowlers kept striking at regular intervals but Iqbal innings looked sufficient for the Indians. Airee was pick of the Nepali bowlers with 3-31 from 10 overs with two maiden overs.

Sarraf, who took the prized scalp of Iqbal, also returned with 2-31 from his 10-over spell. Kishor Mahato, Samsad Alam and Sagar Dhakal also snared one wicket apiece. Rishba Chouhan (19) was India’s second best scorer.

The tournament also involves the Afghanistan U-19 and India U-19 ‘A’ teams. In another match of the day, India ‘A’ crushed Afghanistan by 140 runs. A century from Prabhsimran Singh (104) and half centuries from Pavan Shah and Ayush Badoni lifted India ‘A’ to 328-8. Afghanistan were 188 all out in 46.5 overs.

Nepal will now play India U-19 ‘A’ in their second league match on Friday before taking on Afghanistan on Sunday. The top two teams after the round robin league will play for the title on September 18. The tournament is organised by Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Summary

India U-19 ‘B’ 161 all out in 49 overs (Q Iqbal 50, R Chohan 19; KS Airee 3-31, P Sarraf 2-31) beat Nepal U-19 121 all out in 41.3 overs (B Sharki 30, KS Airee 22; P Yadav 3-22, S Hegde 3-29) by 40 runs

Man-of-the-match: Q Iqbal (IND)