(Photo: CAN)
Nepali youth team made a flying start in the ongoing Men’s U-16 Cricket East Cup in Malaysia, thanks to opener Prasiddha Jaisi’s brilliant half-century.
Chasing a target of 139 runs set by Singapore, Nepal reached it in 33.3 overs losing 4 wickets. Opener Jaisi played an unbeaten innings, scoring 55 runs off 97 balls.
Nepal got off to a strong start with openers Suryanshu Koirala and Prasiddha Jaisi forming a 41-run partnership in 8.1 overs. However, Suryanshu (9 runs off 7 balls, including 2 fours) retired hurt. Wicketkeeper Shivansh Bajgai was caught out off Akash Teja’s delivery after scoring 9 runs.
The second-wicket partnership between Raunak Srivastav and Prasiddha Jaisi (63 runs off 88 balls) put Nepal in a commanding position. Raunak, who scored 40 runs off 44 balls (5 fours and 1 six), was caught off Akash Teja’s bowling. Joy Thapa was dismissed for 4 runs, while Sugam Budhathoki returned to the pavilion without scoring. Subham Khanal remained not out on 9 runs.
For Singapore, Akash Teja took 3 wickets, while Yuvaan Pandey claimed one. Earlier, electing to bat first after winning the toss at the UKM Oval in Malaysia, Singapore were bowled out for 138 runs in 36.1 overs.
Singapore’s captain Rian Nayak top-scored with 53 runs, while opener Ahan Bhudhanbham contributed 38 and Roshan Arun added 11 runs.
For Nepal, Captain Bipin Sharma took 4 wickets, Sachin Bhattarai claimed 3, and Subham Khanal and Abhay Yadav picked up one wicket each.
A total of 10 teams are participating in the tournament, divided into two groups. Group A includes Nepal, Singapore, Indonesia, Bhutan, and Japan. Group B consists of host Malaysia, Hong Kong, Maldives, Thailand, and Myanmar.
Nepal will play its next match against Japan on Tuesday, followed by a game against Indonesia on Sunday. Nepal will lock horns with Bhutan in the final group-stage match.
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