Nepal’s journey in the ongoing ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Sri Lanka came to an end as they suffered their second consecutive defeat in the group stage. Nepal has been defeated by India A by 9 wickets. In the first match, Nepal was defeated by Pakistan A by 4 wickets.
Pakistan and India have advanced to the semi-finals by securing wins in Group B with a perfect 2/2 record. Today, Pakistan emerged victorious against UAE. Nepal’s final game in the competition will be against UAE A. Meanwhile, India and Pakistan will compete for the top spot in the group.
Nepal set a target of 168 runs in the match held at R Premadasa Stadium, but India A registered a comprehensive 9-wicket victory by losing just 1 wicket and completing the chase in 22.1 overs.
India’s openers, Sai Sudarshan and Abhishek Sharma, provided a solid foundation with a remarkable opening partnership of 139 runs in 19 overs, setting the stage for an easy victory for India. Abhishek played an exceptional knock of 87 runs smashing 12 fours and 2 sixes in the process. Sudarshan remained unbeaten on 58 runs, including 8 fours and 1 six, while Dhruv Jurel contributed an unbeaten 21 runs.
Captain Rohit Paudel took the only wicket for Nepal, costing 25 runs in 4 overs.
Earlier, Nepal, who won the toss and batted first, lost all their wickets for 167 runs in 39.2 overs.
Nepal got off to a poor start, losing 5 wickets while managing to score only 37 runs.
The Nepalese top order struggled against the bowling of Indian opening fast bowlers Harshit Rana and Rajvardhan Hangargekar.
Opener Kushal Bhurtel was dismissed in the first over without opening his account, while the other opener Asif Shaikh scored 7 runs. Dev Khanal, who replaced Arjun Saud, contributed 15 runs, while Bhim Sharki managed 4 runs before getting out. Kushal Malla also departed without scoring any runs.
Captain Rohit Paudel formed a 53-run partnership with Sompal Kami for the sixth wicket. After Sompal was dismissed for 14 runs, Rohit added 54 runs for the sixth wicket with Gulshan Jha. In the thirty-fourth over, Rohit was caught behind the wicket by Nishant Sindhu. Paudel, who scored his ninth half-century in List A cricket, scored 65 runs off 85 balls, including 7 fours. Nishant Sindhu then claimed the wicket of Gulshan in the next over of his spell. Jha scored 38 runs off 30 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes. Nishant concluded Nepal’s innings by dismissing Pawan Sarraf, who scored 6 runs, and Lalit Rajbanshi, who scored 3 runs.
Left-arm spinner Nishant Sindhu impressed with figures of 4 wickets for 14 runs in 3.2 overs. Rajvardhan Hangargekar took 3 wickets, while Harshit Rana claimed 2 wickets.
