Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, April 20:

Vice captain Gyanendra Malla scored an unbeaten half century and skipper Sashi Keshari took four wickets as Nepal thrashed United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 140 runs to enter the final of the ACC Under-15 Asia Cup Cricket Tournament in Abu Dhabi today.

Nepal will face Afghanistan in the final on April 22 in Abu Dhabi. Nepal will have psychological advantage going to the final as they have already beaten Afghanistan by a comfortable margin of six wickets in the Group D league match.

Put into bat after the hosts team won the toss at DCC ground, Nepal scored 210 runs losing eight wickets in their allotted 40 overs.

Nepal started well putting up 78 runs for the first wicket. Opener Dipen Shrestha scored 45 off 48 balls including six fours, while other opener Anil Kumar Mandal scored 24 off 35 balls.

Gyanendra Malla, the ‘reliable man’ of coach Roy Dias, hit six fours and a six in his unbeaten 73 off 84 balls. Antim Thapa, the hero of Nepal’s six-wicket victory over Afghanistan in the preliminary round, scored 14 off 26, while skipper Keshari hit three fours in his 22-ball 20 before being run out.

For the home team, Ali Basheer and Obaid Hameed took two wickets each. In reply, Chandra Saud dismissed openers and spinner Keshari ran through middle and tail order claiming four wickets as UAE were folded out for just 70 runs in 39.2 overs.

Except opener Ashish Dhingra (10), Rahul Chatwani (11), and Vignesh Rajan (14), others failed to reach double figure mark. Seamer Chandra Saud gave the first breakthrough for Nepal with 13 runs on board and got two other quick wickets leaving UAE reeling at 14/3.

Spinner Sashi Keshari was the best bowler with the figures of 8-3-5-4, while Saud took 2-7 off six overs and leg spinner Gyanendra Malla, who was later declared the man of the match, took 2-18 off five overs. Antim Thapa got the wicket of the last man in his two-ball spell.

In the other semi-final, Afghanistan beat Malaysia by 32 runs. Batting first, Afghanistan were bowled out for 159 runs in 36 overs and sent Malaysia packing for 127 runs in 35.3 overs.