By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu (HamroKhelkud) – Nepal’s first match at a ICC U-19 World Cup after an eight-year hiatus has ended in a defeat. New Zealand handed Nepal a 64-run defeat in East London, South Africa.
Nepal, chasing a mammoth target of 303 runs could only conjure up 238/9 in 50 overs. Opener Arjun Kumal played a patient innings of 90 runs off 104 deliveries with 12 fours to his name. When wickets kept falling at the other end, Arjun steadily kept getting runs but fell short of a century. He was dismissed in the 38th over and was the eighth man to head back to the pavilion.
Opener Deepak Bohora was dismissed in just the third delivery of the innings on no runs. Aakash Tripathi could only manage to score two runs off 14 deliveries and was the next to depart. Next man into the crease, skipper Dev Khanal scored 36 off 34 with five fours and a maximum before being caught at mid on. Uttam Magar and Gulshan Jha followed him with zero and two runs.
Dipak Bohora got a decent start but was dismissed on 15 runs. Dipesh Kandel was also sent back with a duck. Aakash Chand, who went out to bat at ten, managed to score 14 runs in 26 deliveries. However, Subash Bhandari and Tilak Bhandari batted until the end making 33 off 52 and 17 off 19 respectively.
Mason Clarke took three wickets for New Zealand while Ewald Schreuder and Oscar Jackson picked up two wickets. Matt Rowe and Zac Cumming took two wickets.
Earlier, the Kiwis, who won the toss and opted to bat first got to a total of 302 runs for eight wickets in 50 overs.
Snehith Reddy made an unbeaten 147 in 125 deliveries and hit 11 boundaries and six sixes in the process. Lachian Stackpole was the second-highest scorer for the Kiwis with 75 runs in 81 deliveries. He hit three fours and five maximums. Opener Tom Jones made 33, Luke Watson made 14 while Alex Thompson also got to double figures making 13 off 14.
Subash Bhandari picked up three wickets for Nepal with Gulshan Jha taking two. Dipesh Kandel, Tilak Bhandari and Aakash Tripathi picked up a wicket each.
Nepal will square off against Pakistan in the second match of the tournament on January 24 and will round off the group stages against Afghanistan two days later. The top three teams of the four-team groups will advance to the super six stage.
