KATHMANDU: Nepal’s U-16 cricket team began its campaign in the ongoing Men’s U-16 Cricket East Cup in Malaysia with a victory over Singapore, thanks to a half-century by opener Prasidha Jaisi.
Chasing a target of 139 runs, Nepal reached the total in 33.3 overs, losing 4 wickets. Jaisi anchored the innings with an unbeaten 55 runs off 97 balls.
Openers Suryashu Koirala and Jaisi gave Nepal a solid start, adding 41 runs for the first wicket in 8.1 overs. Suryashu retired hurt after scoring 9 runs off 7 balls, including 2 fours. Wicketkeeper Shivansh Bajgain was dismissed for 9 runs by Akash Teja.
Nepal moved closer to victory with a 63-run second-wicket partnership between Jaisi and Raunak Srivastava. Raunak scored 40 off 44 balls, hitting 5 fours and a six, before being caught by Teja.
Joy Thapa was dismissed for 4, while Sugam Budhathoki was out without scoring. Shubham Khanal remained not out on 9 runs.
For Singapore, Akash Teja took 3 wickets and Yuvhan Pandey claimed one. Earlier, Singapore, after winning the toss and batting first at UKM Oval, was bowled out for 138 runs in 36.1 overs.
Captain Riyan Nayak top-scored with 53 runs, while opener Ahan Bhudhanbham made 38, and Roshan Arun added 11.
Nepal’s captain Bipin Sharma led the bowling attack with 4 wickets. Sachin Bhatt took 3, and Shubham Khanal and Abhay Yadav took one wicket each.
Ten teams are participating in the tournament, divided into two groups. Group A includes Nepal, Singapore, Indonesia, Bhutan, and Japan. Group B features hosts Malaysia, Hong Kong, Maldives, Thailand, and Myanmar.
Nepal will face Japan in their second match on Tuesday and are set to play Indonesia and Bhutan in their final group stage matches on Sunday.
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