Kathmandu, December 16

Nepal  thrashed Malaysia by 72 runs and advanced to the final of the ACC U-16  Asia Region Cricket Tournament at the Terdthai Cricket Ground in Bangkok  today.

In the semi-final match, which was reduced by one over due to rain, Nepal scored 127-8 in 34 overs after they were invited to take the first strike. Nepal then packed Malaysia for a paltry 55 runs in 21.1 overs. Meanwhile,  Singapore defeated Hong Kong by eight wickets in another semi-final and  confirmed their meeting with Nepal in the Sunday’s final.

Nepal  made a disastrous start with the bat as opener Kushal Malla (five) was  caught by Mohammad Hakim Harisan off Shamsul Ikmal Shamsulazman in the  third over with only 11 runs on the board.

Soon Nepal were reduced to  36-3 inside 11 overs after Rajan Magar (11) and Bishal Bikram KC (15) were dismissed cheaply.

Skipper Rit  Gautam (11) and Trit Raj Das added 24 runs for the fourth wicket  before the former was caught by Sandesh Supparamaniam off Aslam Khan Malik in  the 21st over. Nepal came under further pressure after Das was dismissed by Malik in the 23rd over with only 67 runs on the board.

Sunil Bhandari, who hit two boundaries in his 19-ball 17, added 23 runs for the sixth wicket with Narayan  Joshi, who scored  17 off 22 balls with the help of two sixes. Similarly,  Pratish GC, who top scored with 22-ball 25 with the help of one each  four and six, added 20 runs for the eighth wicket with Nikhil Kumar  Singh, who remained unbeaten on six runs.

Malaysia’s Mohamad Afiq  claimed 3-19, while Aslam Khan Malik took 2-24. Vijay Unni, Shamsulazman  and Muhammad Amirul picked up one wicket each.

In reply, Malaysia  lost their wickets cheaply with only opener Sandesh Supparamaniam reaching double figures scoring 16 off 23 balls that included three boundaries. Surya Tamang was the pick of the Nepali bowlers returning with the figures of 4-12, while Pratis GC took 3-23. Ajay Kumar  Loniya and Kushal Malla claimed one wicket each.