Pakistan U23 beat Nepal by 6 in ACC Emerging Cup

Pakistan U-23 defeated Nepal by 6 wickets in its opening match of the ACC Emerging Teams Cup at the Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Academy Ground in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh on Monday.

Nepali team playing in the absence of veterans including regular skipper Paras Khadka, Shakti Gauchan, Basnata Regmi and emerging Sompal Kami crumbled in the batting department. Paras is recuperating after his appendicitis surgery while the other three were given rest with the view to give exposure to new player.

Pakistan U-23 won the toss and opted to bowl. Nepal losing 9 wickets collected 180 runs in 50 overs match but Pakistan reached the 181 runs target in 45. 1 overs, losing four wickets during their first match of Group B.

Captain Gyanendra Malla and Sandeep Lamichhane took two wickets each giving 44 and 32 runs respectively but no other Nepali player took the wicket. Nepal made a shaky start with the bat and kept on losing wickets at a regular interval.

Malla scored two runs and Pun made only four runs. Sunil Dhamala made 43 runs while Sharad Vesawkar contributed 38 runs for Nepal.

Binod Bhandari made 24 runs off 32 balls, Aarif Sheikh scored 18 runs off 30 balls and Dipendra Singh Airee scored 14 runs off 29 balls.

Pakistan’s Ghulam Mudassar claims five wickets giving 26 runs.

In the run chase, Imam-ul-Haq scored 104 runs off 135 balls, while Imran Butt 21 off 44. Likewise, Haris Sohail added 17 runs off 29 for his team. Hammad Azam Contributed unbeaten 22 runs off 42 deliveries. Mohammad Rizwan scored 10 runs before they were sent back to pavilion.

In the other match of the same group, Bangladesh U-23 team registered a comfortable eight-wicket win over Hong Kong.

Nepal will take on Bangladesh Tuesday and Hong Kong Thursday in its group match. The top two finishers in the four-team group will book semifinal spots.