Nepal trounces Singapore, reaches final of ACC U16 East Zone Cup

KATHMANDU, July 3: Nepal has made it to the final of the ACC U16 East Zone Cup after defeating Singapore by 97 runs in a match in Bayuemas Oval in Malaysia. Nepal is facing Malaysia in the final on coming Tuesday. 

Winning the toss and batting first, Nepal made 184 runs in 35 overs at the loss of nine wickets. Chasing the 185-run target, Singapore was restricted to 87 runs in 31.3 overs losing all wickets. 

A balanced partnership between openers Suryanshu Koirala and Niraj Kumar Yadav helped Nepal by scoring 63 runs. Koirala hit 43 off 49 balls with six boundaries, and Niraj Kumar 42 off 49 including one six and three fours. Similarly, Abhisekh Tiwari contributed 25, Santosh Yadav 18, Pratik Bhattarai 12 and Kritik Kamat 10. Dipu Kumar remained unbeaten on 12. 

For Singapore, Hariharan took three wickets, and Harsh Venkatram and Kabir Berlia two each. Singapore's Roshan Ravichandran hit 24, Pranav Dhanuka 14 and Berlia 11. 

For Nepal, Kamat took three wickets giving away just nine runs off 15 balls. Likewise, Santosh, Naren Bhatta, Ashok Dhami, Tiwari and Pratik Pokharel bagged one each.