Kathmandu, July 3

Nepal thrashed China by 10 wickets and advanced to the semi-finals of the ACC U-19 Eastern Region cricket tournament in Kuala Lumpur today.

Nepal, who invited China to take the first striker after skipper Rohit Kumar Paudel won the toss at the Kinrara Oval, bowled the opponents out for a paltry 53 runs in 23.1 overs. Nepal then raced to 57 without loss in just five overs.

Nepali openers Pawan Sarraf and Rit Gautam took just 30 balls to take the team home.

Sarraf struck six fours and three sixes in his 21-ball 46 not out, while Gautam remained unbeaten on run-a-ball 10.

Earlier, Sagar Dhakal destroyed the Chinese batting line and returned with the figures of 6-19 from 9.1 overs.

Only openers Guohao Gao and Liang Chen were able to score in double figures for China contributing 13 runs each. After Dhakal made the first breakthrough in the last ball of the sixth over removing Gao, China lost the remaining nine wickets for just 35 runs.

Dhakal was ably supported by Tilak Raj Bhandari, who took 3-15 from seven overs, while Kamal Singh Airee claimed 1-9 from five overs.

Dhakal was named the man of the match.

Nepal’s victory meant they advanced to the last four from the three-team Group A along with Singapore, who had beaten China by eight wickets in their previous match. Nepal, who lead the standing, will face Singapore on Friday and the match will decide the group winners. Myanmar, who were drawn in Group A, withdrew from the tournament.

In Group B, hosts Malaysia are at the top with four points, while Hong Kong have two.

Thailand and Bhutan are yet to open their accounts. Malaysia hammered Bhutan by 260 runs and Hong Kong defeated Thailand by five wickets in the day’s other matches.