Nepal U-19 go down to Afghanistan

 

Kathmandu, January 11

Nepal U-19 team suffered a 83-run defeat at the hands of Afghanistan in their practice match at the St Stephen College Ground in New Delhi on Monday.

Batting first, Afghanistan scored 232-8 in 45 overs, while Nepal were packed for 149 in 43.1 overs. Nepal made the worst possible chase when they lost opener Ishan Pandey (one) in the fourth over with just three runs on the board. Nepal then kept on losing wickets at regular interval and were reeling at 50-6 after 21 overs.

Shankar Rana and Dipendra Singh Airee tried to consolidate the innings with a 66-run partnership for the eighth wicket. Airee returned back to the pavilion after scoring 42 off 40 balls that included five fours and a six, while Rana scored 39 off 77 balls with four fours. Zia Ur Rehman Akbar was pick of the Afghanistan bowlers taking 5-16 in eight overs, while Karim Janat and Zahir Pakteen took two wickets each.

Earlier, Afghanistan made a flying start with openers Karim Janat and Naveed Obaid scoring 58 runs in 10 overs. Janat (14) was the first batsman to be removed, while Obiaid made 44 off 33 balls with 10 boundaries as Afghanistan were reduced to 62-2 in the 11th over. Ihsanullah Janat and Tariq Stanikzai then added 99 runs for the third wicket and guided the team towards huge total. Stanikzai scored 64 off 69 balls that included three fours and four sixes, while Janat made 37 off 69 balls.

Afghanistan raced to 165-4 in 33 overs and added 67 runs in the last 12 overs. Ikram Khail remained unbeaten on 41 off 43 balls. For Nepal, Sandeep Lamichhane and Aarif Seikh claimed three wickets each, while Prem Tamang and Sushil Kandel took a wicket each.

The two teams, preparing for this month’s ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup in Bangladesh, will play their second and last practice match on Wednesday.