Kathmandu, November 8:

Defending champions Nepal opened their Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Under-19 Cup cricket tournament campaign with an eight-wicket victory over Bahrain here at Tribhuvan University Stadium today.

Bahrain won the toss and elected to field. Nepali medium pace bowler Amrit Bhattarai took four wickets as the visitors were bowled out for a paltry 67 runs in 28.5 overs. Vice captain Paras Khadka took three wickets and Raj Shrestha took one.

In reply, the two-time champions Nepal lost two wickets and overcame the target in 11.1 overs. Gyanendra Malla scored an unbeaten 32 runs and Sharad Vesawkar was 19 when Malla hit the winning four. Openers Kanishka Chaugain and Yashwant Subedi were out for two runs each.

Sharing the new ball with Bantu Bataju, man of the match Bhattarai put the Bahrain batsmen under pressure by claiming the wicket in his first over. Except No 3 Karan Kumar (17) and Atif Ashfaq (16), others failed to reach the double figure mark as Bhattarai claimed 4-38 in his unchanged 10 overs. Super-sub Basanta Regmi replaced Bhattarai after the strike bowler completed his spell.

Nepal also started badly in reply, losing opener Chaugain in the fifth ball of the innings, caught behind off Gayan DeSilva with just three runs on the board. DeSilva made it 8/2 when he had the other opener Subedi caught at mid-on.

Sharad Vesawkar and Gyanendra Malla shared an unbroken 60-run partnership for the third wicket to steer Nepal to a huge victory. Malla hit five fours in his 28-ball 32, while Sharad scored 19 off 26 balls including three boundaries.

In the other matches, Qatar defeated Singapore by 113 runs at Institute of Engineering (IoE) ground. Batting first after winning the toss, Qatar posted 251 runs losing nine wickets in 50 overs and then packed Singapore for 138 runs in 43 overs.

At Tundikhel ground, Kuwait beat Afghanistan by seven wickets. Put into bat first, Afghanistan were all out for 200 runs in 47.4 overs. In reply, Kuwait reached 202 for three wickets in 34.3 overs.

At Birendra Sainik Awasiya Mahavidyalaya, Malaysia outplayed Hong Kong by 178 runs. Put into bat first after Hong Kong won the toss, Malaysia scored 242/8 in 50 overs. In reply, Hong Kong were packed for a paltry 64 runs in 27 overs — the lowest score of the day’s four matches.

SCOREBOARD:

BAHRAIN

Z Ahmed b Amrit 1

M D Jasnaik b Amrit 6

K Kumar c Mahesh b Paras 17

N Ikram lbw b Amrit 0

R Mir lbw b Amrit 0

G DeSilva b Paras 4

S Singh run out 2

A Ashfaq c Sashi b Raj 16

G Kumar c Bantu b Paras 3

S Mehmood not out 0

S Sattar run out 0

Extras: 18 (nb1, w14, lb3)

Total: 67 (28.5 overs)

FoW: 1-1, 2-21, 3-33, 4-34, 5-36, 6-43, 7-57, 8-66, 9-67

Nepal bowling: Bantu Bataju 7-2-8-0, Amrit Bhattarai 10-2-38-4, Paras Khadka 7.5-1-17-3, Raj Shrestha 4-3-1-1

NEPAL

K Chaugain c Gautam b DeSilva 2

Y Subedi c Zarak b DeSilva 2

S Vesawkar not out 19

G Malla not out 32

Extras: 13 (w 13)

Total: 68/2 (11.1 overs)

FoW: 1-3, 2-8

Bahrain bowling: G DeSilva 5-0-26-2, S Mehmood 1-0-4-0, Z Ahmed 1-0-5-0, S Sattar 2.1-0-15-0, N Ikram 1-0-14-0, R Mir 1-0-4-0

Man of the Match: Amrit Bhattarai (Nepal)

Today’s matches:

• Nepal vs Brunei @ BSAM

• Malaysia vs Saudi Arabia @ TU Stadium

• UAE vs Iran @ Tundikhel

• Oman vs Thailand @ IoE