KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 26
Nepal faced a 60-run defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka but not before putting up a tough fight against a Test-playing nation in the ACC U-19 Asian Cup at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the UAE today.
Batting first, Sri Lanka posted 322-4 in their allotted 50 overs before Nepal were all out for 262 runs with 13 balls remaining.
Nepal, who lost to Bangladesh in the first match on Friday, crashed out of the race to semi-finals and they will take on already-eliminated Kuwait in the last Group B match on Tuesday.
Chasing a mammoth target, Nepal made a strong start with openers Santosh Karki and skipper Dev Khanal putting up 59 runs in 11 overs. Reduced to 92-4 at one stage, Arjun Saud and Basir Ahamad added 75 runs for the fifth wicket before Saud and Bibek Yadav shared a 41-run partnership for the next wicket to take the scores past 200-run mark.
Saud top scored with 64 off 80 balls that included three fours and two sixes, while Yadav struck three boundaries and two sixes in his 29-ball 46.
Ahamad scored 43 off 51 balls with the help of three fours and two sixes, whereas Gulsan Jha contributed 11-ball 13 with the help of two fours. Matheesha Pathirana and Raveen de Silva took three wickets each for Sri Lanka, while Dunith Wellalage and Shevon Daniel grabbed one apiece.
Earlier, Sri Lanka scored a huge total riding on centuries from opener Chamindu Wickramasinghe and Sadisha Rajapaksa.
They shared a 223-run partnership for the second wicket that took the match away from Nepal. Rajapaksa scored 131 off 119 with the help of 11 boundaries and two sixes, while Wickramasinghe struck eight fours and two sixes in his 126-ball 111.
Skipper Dunith Wellalage hit three fours and a six in his 24-ball 34, while Shevon Daniel contributed 17. Mohammad Aadil Khan grabbed two wickets for Nepal, while skipper Dev Kamal and Bibek Yadav took one each.
A version of this article appears in the print on December 27, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
