Photo Courtesy: Shankar Karuppayah, Penang
Nepal has qualified to the quarterfinal of the Under-17 Asia Cup – thank to an emphatic 344-run victory of Afghanistan over minnows Brunei today at the Penang Sports Club, Malaysia.
Nepal has qualified as the Group C runners-up and will meet Group B winner Singapore at the Selangor Turf Club Ground in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday. Other quarterfinals will be played between Qatar and Kuwait, Afghanistan and Malaysia, and United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain.
Surprisingly Oman, whose senior team is scheduled to play in the Asia Cup, has failed to register any win in three matches while Hong Kong couldn’t qualify as they won only one match.
Afghanistan scored brilliant 356/9 in allotted 45 overs after being asked to bat first by Brunei and bowled out Brunei for only 12 runs in 8.4 overs.
Mohd Shah scored a superb 111 not out. He was supported by Basir who scored 65 and Izatullah who scored a quickfire 63. Arafat claimed 4/56.
The young Brunei side lost wickets in very quick successions. Izatullah bowled well to get 4 wickets for 3 runs in 4 overs. Mohd Asghar ended with 3 for 7 in 4 overs. Brunei got out for the lowest score in the tournament.
In other matches today, Singapore had an easy 173 run victory over Bhutan. Batting first Singapore chalked up a respectable score of 210/6 with Smithpal Singh Sandhu top scoring with 44. In reply, Bhutan collapsed to 37 all out in 18.2 overs as Prem Vashdev Dadlani wrecked havoc taking 4 for 4 in 3 overs.
At Aman Club, Kuwait edged Saudi Arabia by 2 wickets. Saudi Arabia scored 157 all out in 39.5 overs which Kuwait surpassed in 39.2 overs losing 8 wickets. Similarly, Qatar beat Hong Kong by 34 runs after scoring 177. Bahrain defeated Oman by 25 runs in a closely contested match. Bahrain scored 99 all out while Oman replied with 73 all out.
Table at the end of League Round
Country P W L Group A Qatar 3 3 Bahrain 3 2 1 Hong Kong 3 1 2 Oman 3 3 Group B Singapore 3 3 - Kuwait 3 2 1 Saudia Arabia 3 1 2 Bhutan 3 - 3 Group C Afghanistan 2 2 - Nepal 2 1 1 Brunei 2 - 2 Group D UAE 2 2 Malaysia 2 1 1 Thailand 2 2
Quarterfinals (On August 10, Wednesday)
QF1. Qatar vs Kuwait at Bayumas Oval
QF2. Singapore vs Nepal at Selangor Turf Club
QF3. Afghanistan vs Malaysia at Kelab Aman
QF4. UAE vs Bahrain at Kinara Oval
Semifinals (on August 11, Thursday)
Winners QF1 vs QF3 at Selangor Turf Club
Winners QF2 vs QF4 at Kinara Oval
Final (on Auaugt 13, Saturday) at Bayumas Oval