Bhaktapur, November 9:

Nepal won the toss, asked Brunei to bat first, bowled them out for just 21 runs and reached the target in 23 balls. This was what exactly happened in the ACC Under-19 Cup match between Nepal and Brunei at the Birendra Sainik Mahavidyala ground on Wednesday.

With two victories in a row in the three-team Group A, Nepal entered the quarter-finals and will face the Group C runner-up on November 16 at TU Stadium.

Brunei batsmen could not handle the Nepali bowlers and the match was finished hour before scheduled lunchtime, with seven of the Brunei batsmen including the top five getting out for ducks. The previous lowest score in the U-19 level was Maldives’ 47, scored against Nepal in the U-19 Youth Asia Cup in Karachi in 2003.

Amrit Bhattarai, who was declared the man of the match in Nepal’s eight-wicket victory over Bahrain on Tuesday after claiming 4-38 in 10 overs, was the hero again. The medium pace bowler was on verge of repeating the first day feat but was replaced by super-sub Basanta Regmi after he injured his ankle while fielding off his own bowling in the 13th over.

Bhattarai claimed 3-7 in six overs and was ably supported by spinner Ratan Rauniyar, who took three wickets conceding two runs in 1.2 overs. Abhaya Rana, who was the only player in the team without international experience before the match, and Sashi Keshari got two wickets each.

Bhattarai trapped Brunei opener Mueed Ozair Miaan leg before for a duck in the fifth ball of the innings. Abhaya Rana made it 3/2 in the second over when he had the other opener Ayesh Ratnayeke caught behind by Mahesh Chhetri, also for a duck. Bhattarai added another scalp to his credit in the fifth over when he bowled Jaison Liyanage for a duck. Except for Bhattarai and Rauniyar, Paras Khadka also had a memorable day out as the vice-captain took three catches at slip.

Ali Ahsan was the highest scorer for Brunei with five runs. Rory Effendi scored three runs, while Ali Sani and Sadeesh Ratnayeke made two each.

In reply, Nepali openers Mahesh Chhetry and skipper Kanishka Chaugain overcame the target in 3.5 overs. Chhetry was on eight off 16 balls when Chaugain (two off seven balls) hit the winning single. Nepal’s run chase was supported by 12 extra runs, all wides.

“It was definitely an expected result for us,” said Nepali team coach Roy Luke Dias, adding that batting first after winning the toss was not a good idea against Brunei, which do not have good bowlers.

“Batting first against such a team would have been giving unnecessary pressure to my batsmen,” he added. Nepal will go into the quarter-finals without having batting practice for eight days, but Dias has a plan during the break. “We can have a friendly match with the senior team, which will be a good practice for us,” he said.

In other matches, Malaysia beat Saudi Arabia by 172 runs at TU. Batting first, Saudi Arabia were all out for 99 runs in 30.1 overs. In reply, Malaysia scored 271/8 in 50 overs.

At Institute of Engineering, Oman beat Thailand by four runs. Batting first, Oman were bowled out for 149 runs in 40.2 overs. In reply, Thailand were packed for 145 runs in 40 overs.

At Tundikhel, UAE thrashed Iran by 336 runs. Put into bat first, UAE accumulated 375 runs losing seven wickets in 50 overs. In reply, Iran were all out for just 39 runs in 14.5 overs.

SCOREBOARD:

BRUNEI

M Miaan lbw b Amrit 0

A Ratnayeke c mahesh b Abhay 0

J Liyanage b Amrit 0

S Shareef c Paras b Abhay 0

A Mian b Amrit 0

A Ahsan c Paras b Ratan 5

A Sani b Sashi 2

S Ratnayeke not out 2

A Mahbub c Paras b Sashi 0

R Effendi b Ratan 3

MD Mamdoh c Basanta b Ratan 0

Extras: 10 (lb 1, w 9)

Total: 21 (15.2 overs)

FoW: 1/0, 2/3, 3/5, 4/5, 5/7, 6/16/ 7/18, 8/18, 9/21

Nepal bowling: Amrit Bhattarai 6-1-7-3, Abhay Rana 6-3-8-2, Sashi Keshari 2-0-4-2, Ratan Rauniyar 1.2-0-2-3

NEPAL

M Chhetry not out 8

K Chaugain not out 2

Extras: 12 (w 12)

Total: 22 (without loss in 3.5 overs)

Brunei bowling: MD Shefeer Shereef 2-1-6-0, Sadesh Ratnayeke 1.5-0-16-0

Today’s matches:

• Qatar vs Oman @ BSAM

• Kuwait vs UAE @ TU

• S Arabia vs Maldives @ IoE