Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, April 11:

Angel Acharya took three wickets and Dipen Shrestha scored unbeaten 32 runs as Nepal beat Qatar by nine wickets in their first match at the Under-15 Asia Cup, being held in the United Arab Emirates, today. Batting first after winning the toss, Qatar were bowled out for a paltry 68 runs in 29.2 overs of the 40-over-a-side match. Except for S Archit (10), K Faiz (12) and Abhimanyu (15), other batsmen failed to reach the double figure mark. Angel Acharya led Nepali attack with the figures of 5.2-2-3-3, ably supported by Sharad Pokhrel (2-15), Amrit Bhattarai (2-12) and Chandra Saud (1-21). Acharya was later named the man of the match. In reply, Nepali colts overcame the target losing one wicket in 13.3 overs. Opener Dipen Shretha remained unbeaten on 32 off 41 balls which included three hits to the fence, while other opener Anil Maharjan scored 12 off 27 balls before falling leg before to K Faiz. Gyanendra Malla hit four boundaries in his unbeaten 17 off 14. Nepal is in Group D along with Qatar, Afghanistan and Iran. Nepal will take on Afghanistan on April 14 and are scheduled to face Iran on April 17. Top two teams from the four pools of the 16-nation tournament will advance to the quarter-finals. ACC has not included Test playing nations in this edition.