Nepal crushed Thailand in their opening encounter of ACC Eastern Region 2017 by 255 runs at Club Aman Ground in Malaysia on Monday.
Invited to bat first, Nepal posted a mammoth target of 282 runs, with the help of impressive knocks from Anil Kumar Shah who scored 91 of 74 balls and 50 of 61 from Pranit Thapa Magar.
Opener Sandeep Sunar and Aasif Sheikh provided a decent start with a 32 run partnership for the first wicket before Aasif was caught on 21 runs. Anil joined the crease with Sunar for second wicket and this duo established a strong partnership of 60, taking the team score up to 94 runs. This partnership came to end when Sunar was dismissed by Payuputh Sungnard for 32 runs.
Later Dipendra Singh Airee accompanied Anil for the third wicket and this pair made 52 runs before Dipendra was caught by Agam Sanjay Shah in the 29th overs. Down the middle order, Pawan Sharaff and Rohit Kumar Poudel controlled the innings, each scoring 22 and 28 respectively, taking the score to 281 for the loss of 7 wickets.
In reply, Thailand failed to withstand Nepalese bowling attack as they were restricted to mere 26 runs in just 10 overs. In doing so, Sandeep Lamichhane bowled a magical spell as he picked up 7 wickets in his 4 overs conceding only 6 runs. Dipendra Airee, Kishor Mahato and Nandan Yadav took one wicket each.
Sandeep Lamichhane was declared `Man of the Match` for his brilliant contribution with the ball .
Singapore is currently leading Group A with two points from one match, possessing a slightly better run rate than Nepal. Nepal is currently placed on the 2nd position with 2 points as well from one match with Net Run Rate of 5.1.
Nepal will play its second game on 13th of September against Bhutan at Kinara Oval.
This (8 teams) tournament is being held in Malaysia from 10th – 17th of September. Winner of this tournament will qualify for U-19 Asia Cup also to be held in Malaysia later this November.
