Kathmandu, December 15

Nepal lost to Sri Lanka by one run in their Group A opening match of the ACC U-19 Asia Cup at the Nondescripts Cricket Club Ground in Colombo today.

Batting first after being invited to take the first strike by Nepal skipper Sandeep Lamichhane, the hosts scored 227-8 in their allotted 50 overs. In reply, Nepal were just two runs short of their historic victory before being all out for 226 runs with three balls to spare.

With eight runs needed from the last over, Dipendra Singh Airee hit a six off the second ball off Praveen Jayawickrama before the batsman became the final wicket to fall in the next ball when he was trapped leg before the wicket. Airee top scored with 90 off 99 balls that included nine fours and a six.

Nepal were heading towards comfortable victory with eight runs needed from two overs with three wickets on hand. But the match turned to Sri Laka’s favour after skipper Lamichhane and Kamal Singh Airee were run out in the penultimate over and Nepal failed to add a single run to the total.

Nepal made a worst possible reply as openers Sandeep Sunar and Aasif Sheikh returning to the pavilion with just five runs on the board in three overs.

Bhim Sarki did not trouble the scorers much as he lost his wicket after scoring eight runs. After that Nepal’s innings revolved around Dipendra, who added 45 runs for the fourth wicket with Aadil Khan, who struck four fours and a six in his 69-ball 39.

Dipendra and Prakash KC shared a 35-run partnership for fifth wicket before the latter was out for 14. Dipendra then found an able partner in Avinash Karn and the duo added 84 runs for the sixth wicket to take Nepal’s total to 196 in 44.4 overs. Karn scored 40 off 64 balls that included three fours and six.

After Pawan Sarraf was out for a golden duck, Dipendra and Kamal took Nepal towards victory with a 21-run stand for the eighth wicket. Kamal departed in the first ball of the 49th over at a time when Nepal needed 10 runs for victory. But the last two wickets failed to take the team home.

Kamindu Mendis was the pick of the Sri Lanka bowlers taking 3-37, while Dilshan Gamage, Nipun Ransika, Jehan Daniel, Praveen Jayawickrama and Ashen Bandara claimed one wicket each.

Nepali bowlers made a bright start after Lamichhane invited the Lankans to take the first strike when Kamal Singh Airee trapped opener Vishva Chathuranga leg before with the first ball of the innings.

But it took 13 overs for them to get the second success and by the time Sri Lanka had created a solid platform for big total. Reven Kelly (19) and Hasitha Boyagoda added 68 runs for the second wicket before the former was run out.

Sarrad had Sri Lanka skipper Kamindu Mendis (11) caught by Lamichhane in the 20th over before Boyagoda and Krishan Arachchige (28) added 64 runs for the fourth wicket. Nepal did claim two quick wickets including that of Boyagoda to reduce the hosts to 148-5 but the lower order also added important runs to post a fighting total.

Boyagoda top scored for the hosts with 83 off 106 balls hitting 12 boundaries. Kamal took 3-43 from eight overs, while Sarraf claimed 2-26 from six and Dipendra pocketed one wicket for Nepal. Skipper Lamichhane and Karn bowled their full quota of 10 overs but both the bowlers returned empty handed.

Nepal will play against India on Friday and face Malaysia two days later.