KATHMANDU, JANUARY 31

Nepal suffered a five-wicket defeat at the hands of Bangladesh during the Super Six match of the ongoing ICC U-19 World Cup cricket tournament held in South Africa.

After winning the toss, Nepal opted to bat first before being bowled out for a meager total of 169 with a ball to spare.

Nepal were never in the game after loosing their openers cheaply, as man-of-the-match Rohanat Doullah Borson and Iqbal Hossain Emon shared seven wickets between them, restricting their opponent to below par score.

Nepal's middle-order batsmen, skipper Dev Khanal and Bishal Bikram KC, shared a 62-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Bishal Bikram KC scored a measured 48 runs off 100 deliveries with six hits to the fence.

After losing the wicket of Dev Khanal, who made 35 off 60 balls, Nepal kept on losing wickets from the other end and were outplayed by Bangladesh in the field.

In reply, Bangladesh made a solid start after openers shared a 61-run partnership, with Jishan Alam scoring a blistering 55 off 43 balls with six hits to the fence and two maximums.

Ariful Islam took the team home with a quick-fire, not-out 59 runs with five wickets at hand. Nepal's Subash Bhandari was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 8-0-44-5 but to no avail.

Nepal will take on India in the next match of the Super Six on February 2.