Kathmandu, August 31

Nepal registered an easy eight-wicket victory over hosts Malaysia in the third round match of the ACC U-19 Premier at the Bayuemas Oval in Kuala Lumpur today.

Batting first after winning the toss, Malaysia were bowled out for a paltry 75 runs in 38 overs before Nepal raced to 77-2 in just 14.4 over.

With the victory, Nepal climbed to the second spot with four points from three matches, while Afghanistan maintained their position at the top of the table with six points after their third straight victory.

Chasing the target of 76 runs, Nepal did not start well and lost opener Sunil Dhamala (three) in the last ball of the second over with just 11-1. Another opener Ashish Dhami and Rajbir Singh added 62 run for the second wicket in 11 overs to take the team close to victory.

Singh scored 33 off 38 balls with five fours before her was caught by Virandeep Singh off  Pavandeep Singh at a time when Nepal needed just three runs to win the match. Dhami remained unbeaten on 38 off 40 balls with six boundaries.

Earlier, Nepali bowlers did not allow Malaysian batsmen to settle at the crease as they took wickets at regular intervals. Pavandeep Singh was the top scorer for the home side with his painstaking 17 off 72 balls, while Shankar Sathish made 13 runs and Vimalan Palaniandy remained unbeaten on 12 runs.

Three Malaysian batsmen failed to open their accounts, while others did not reach double-figure mark. Man-of-the-match Aarif Sheikh was the pick of the Nepali bowlers with the figures of 10-3-18-4, while Dipesh Shrestha and Dipendra Airee grabbed two wickets each and Sushil Kandel took a wicket.

Nepal will now play against Kuwait at the Kinrara Academy Oval on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, Afghanistan thrashed the UAE by 10 wickets at the Kinrara Oval for their third consecutive victory. Batting first, the UAE were bowled out for 88 runs in 30.5 overs before Afghanistan raced to 90 without losing a wicket in 12.5 overs. At Kelab Aman grounds, Kuwait registered a 124-run victory over Saudi Arabia. Batting first, Kuwait made 250 runs in 50 overs and packed Saudi Arabia for 126 runs in 40 overs.