Kathmandu, July 9

Nepali U-19 cricket team recorded a 60-run win against RP Singh Academy in a 50-over practice match played at the Shaheed Vijay Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida, India today.

Opting to bat first, the Nepali team was bowled out for 176 runs in 45.2 overs but the visitors packed RP Singh Academy for 116 runs in 32.5 overs.

Nepali youth team made a mediocre start with the bat as openers Sandeep Sundar and Aasif Sheikh (14) added 32 runs before the later was bowled out by Sankalp Yadav in fourth ball of the eighth over. Sheikh hit three boundaries.

Sunar then shared a 64-run partnership with Pranil Thapa Magar, who scored 33 off 45 balls cracking four boundaries. Sunar top scored with 46 runs off 63 balls hitting eight boundaries before he was caught by Deepanshu Yadav off Sparsh Joshi in fourth ball of the 21st over with 96 runs on the board.

Dipendra Singh Airee hit 37-ball 39 with the help of five boundaries but there were no impressive partnerships as Nepal lost last five wickets for just 43 runs.

RP Singh Academy’s Harshit Sethi claimed 4-34, while Sanjeev Chaturvedi took 2-12. Sankalp Yadav, Sparsh Joshi and Deepanshu Yadav claimed one wicket apiece.

In reply, RP Singh Academy made a disastrous run chase as they lost opener Ayush Jain (one) in the second ball of the third over with only 15 runs on the board.

Utakarsh Suri (28 off 32) and Boby Yadav (26 off 42) added 28 runs for the second wicket. They kept on losing wickets at regular interval and Sparsh Joshi (24) was the only other batsman who scored in double figures. Boby Yadav and Sparsh Joshi hit two boundaries and a six each, while Utkarsh Suri cracked five fours.

Pawan Sarraf (3-27) and Shahab Alam (3-30) shared six wickets between them for the Nepali team, while Sandeep Lamichhane took 2-18. Rijan Dhakal and Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi claimed one wicket each. Nepali youth team is currently preparing for the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers for Asia Region slated for Singapore from July 16-26.