KATHMANDU, Nov 17: Afghanistan defeated Nepal by seven-wickets in the semifinal of the ongoing ACC U-19 Youth Asia Cup played at the Kinrara Oval in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Friday.

Nepal who were sent to bat first after losing the toss gave a modest target of 104 runs to Afghanistan after being all out in 28 overs. In return, Afghanistan hit the target in 20.3 overs at the loss of three wickets.

The game was stopped for about two hours due to rain when Afghanistan was 10 runs away from victory.

Anil Shah top scored 50 runs for Nepal. Afghanistan’s Mujibur Rahman alone took six wickets.

Opening batsman Ramanullah Gurbaz of Afghanistan made the highest 77 runs, Ikram Ali 18 and Darbis Abdul Rashool 12 runs not out.

Kamal Singh Airee, Pawan Sharraf and Sandip Lamichhane took one wicket each.

Afghanistan will face Pakistan in the finals on Sunday.

KATHMANDU, July 25: Nepal’s dream to play in the ICC U-19 World Cup, 2018 has shattered after the team crashed out of the ICC U-19 qualifier for the Asian region underway in Singapore, following a humiliating 96-run defeat against Afghanistan on Tuesday.

Afghanistan, which racked 12 points winning all matches, qualified for the ICC U-19 World Cup to be held in New Zealand next year. Nepal finished second in the table with eight points. Nepal won each matches against Malaysia and host Singapore, while lost both two matches against Afghanistan.

Nepal had to defeat Afghanistan with a wide-margin score in order to qualify for the next year’s World Cup, but was limited to 99-runs in 40.6 overs chasing the target of 196 runs set by Afghanistan.

Nepal started poorly as it lost early wicket for just 10 runs in 5.2 overs. Sandip Sunar made six runs before he was sent packing. The team further suffered following the dismissal of Aashif Shekh in another over. He scored just two runs.

Likewise, Pranit Thapa Magar could not open account while Anil Sah was confined to six runs- that saw Nepal losing four wickets for just 23 runs in 10.4 overs.

Dipendra Singh Airee top scored for Nepal hitting 48 runs from 81 balls with one six and seven boundaries.

Earlier, winning the toss and elected to bat first, Afghanistan secured 195 runs in 46.5 overs at the loss of five wickets.

Openers Ibrahim Zadran hit ton for his team scoring 101 run off 114 balls.

For Nepal, Shahab Alam took four wickets while Airee claimed three and captain Sandeep Lamichhane and Pawan Sarraf took a wicket each.

KATHMANDU, July 20: Nepal went down to Afghanistan conceding a 141-run defeat in the match played today under the ICC Asia U-19 World Cup qualifier underway in Singapore.

Afghanistan had set a 191-run target to Nepal. Chasing the target, Nepal could muster only 49 runs in 26 overs, losing all its wickets.

Nepal’s starting was unimpressive. By 10.1 overs, it had lost its vital six wickets and collected merely 19 runs. Pawan Sarraf made 26 runs including three fours from 52 balls. The rest of the Nepali batsmen simply collapsed before the blasting Afghanistan bowlers. Four players returned to the pavilion without making any runs.

Afghanistan’s Mujeeb Zadran and Naveen-ul-Haq each took four wickets. Zadran conceded only seven runs in nine overs with five maidens while Haq gave away eight runs in four overs with one maiden. Haq pulled a hat-trick sending Dipendra Singh Airee to the pavilion in the fourth ball, followed by Pranit Thapa Magar in the fifth ball and Anil Shah in the sixth ball of the third over.

Earlier, Afghanistan which was invited to bat first after losing the toss made 190 runs in the 49.4 overs losing all its wickets in the stipulated 50 overs. Opening batsman Ibrahim Zadran scored 43 runs from 41 balls that include one six and five fours. Likewise, Naveed Obaid contributed 33 runs while Tariq Stanikzai 27 runs, Naveen-ul-Haq 20 runs and Imran Mohammadi 18 runs.

As for Nepal, Shahab Alam took three wickets in 10 overs at the loss of 46 runs. Likewise, Sandip Lamichhane and Pawan Sarraf claimed two wickets each. Sarraf gave away 19 runs in seven overs with two maidens while Lamichhane gave away 30 runs in 9.4 overs with two maidens.

Nepal had defeated Singapore in the first game and Malaysia in the second before this. RSS