NEPAL LIFTS THE ACC U 19 ELITE CUP
Making their country proud, the Nepali cricket team has continued its impressive form in the non-Test playing arena.
For the fourth time, Nepal emerged victorious in an ACC Under 19 Elite Cup championship held in Malaysia. Earlier it had won the title in 2001, 2003 and 2005.
The team was felicitated on Sunday (September 2) in Kathmandu. Binaya Raj Pandey, president of Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), said, "The U-19 team has given us more international successes than any other sports." He was referring to their win last year over Test-playing nations like South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan and Bangladesh during the ICC U 19 World Cup between 2002 and 2006.
The CAN awarded 14 players and an assistant coach Jagat Tamata with a cash purse of Rs 15,000 each. National coach Roy Dias, who played the instrumental role in Nepal's win, was not present during the function as he is currently on a vacation.
Nepali team led by replacement skipper Paras Khadka had a relatively smooth sail throughout the tournament defeating Malaysia and Oman. It had to settle for a draw with minnows Thailand as the match was affected by rain.
Three times defending champion Nepal yet again emerged champions of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Under-19 Elite Cup by beating Afghanistan by 48 runs in the finals played at Kinrara Oval in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on August 29.
Owing to the excellent bowling, Nepal restricted Afghanistan to 124 runs in 45.5 overs bowling all the players out. Earlier, winning the toss, Nepal had elected to bat and scored 172 all out in 49.4 overs.
Akash Gupta was the highest scorer for Nepal with 48 runs while Sagar Khadka scored 32 and captain Paras Khadka added 27 runs. Mahesh Chhetri and Raj Shrestha each scored 14.
Earlier, Nepal had defeated hosts Malaysia by 5 wickets while Afghanistan had defeated UAE by 40 runs in the semi-finals on August 27.
After winning this tournament, Nepal now plays the runners-up of European region for a spot in the Youth World Cup.
