photo : CAN
On Monday, Nepal secured their third consecutive win in the ICC U-19 Asia World Cup Qualifiers, defeating Hong Kong by 9 wickets at the tournament held in Ajman, UAE. After winning the toss, Hong Kong came to bat and were all out for 120 runs in 46.3 overs. Nepal quickly responded by scoring 126 runs within 22.1 overs, thanks to an unbeaten 64 runs by Akash Tripathi.
At the Malek Cricket Ground, Akash Tripathi played an impressive innings, scoring 64 runs from 72 balls, which included 5 fours and 4 sixes. He shared an unbeaten 98-run partnership with Uttam Thapa Magar for the second wicket. Uttam contributed 39 runs from 50 balls, hitting 4 fours. Arjun Kumal scored 16 runs, including 2 fours in 36 balls.
Earlier, Parth Bhagwat scored 36 runs for Hong Kong, playing 93 balls and hitting 4 fours. Allian Zahir added 29 runs off 67 balls with 3 fours, while Captain Ahan Trivedi contributed 11 runs.
Nepal’s Hemant Dhami took 3 wickets, Subash Bhandari claimed 2 wickets, spending only 10 runs in 10 overs with 3 maidens, Akash Chand took 2 wickets with 43 runs in 8.3 overs, and Dipesh Kadel took 1 wicket with 17 runs in 10 overs. Nepal also ran out two Hong Kong players.
In their previous matches, Nepal defeated Singapore by 86 runs and Kuwait by 243 runs, respectively. If they win their next two matches against Malaysia and UAE, Nepal will emerge victorious in the round-robin tournament and advance to the ICC U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka next year.
The winner of the six-nation tournament will advance to the ICC U-19 World Cup, and Nepal is now a strong contender for the title.
