“What shall we do to beat Nepal?” Malaysian coach Haris Bakar asked after six-wicket defeat against Nepal despite scoring 203 in the ACC U-19 Elite Cup at Unity Ground, Kuwait on Thursday.
It was Malaysia’s seventh loss, including three in finals, at this level against Nepal. Led by Keithan Goonasagaran’s 90, Malaysia scored 203 in 46.5 overs, a score that Nepal chased in 46.4 overs losing just four wickets – thanks to captain’s knock by Gyanendra Malla.
Malaysia won the toss and elected to bat first. Amrit Bhattarai gave Nepal a breakthrough in the first over trapping Faris Almas Lee leg-before, but then Nepal had a long wait for next celebration as Safiq Sharif and Keithan got Malaysia going.
The pair added 68 runs in 22.5 overs before Shafiq (31 off 73 balls) fell to Anil Mandal. That sparked frequent fall of wickets but Keithan ensured that his team get a good score by anchoring the innings.
Keithan scored 90 runs off 132 balls with seven fours and had worthy partnerships with Mohd Norwira (21 off 25) and Syazrul Ezat (11 off 10). He was unlucky not to complete his century being a victim of run-out by Chandra Saud but did his job by taking Malaysia to 198.
After Keithan fell, three other batsmen survived just seven balls and not completing the quota of 48 overs – reduced after match was delays by 75 minutes due to dirt on ground.
Amrit was the pick of the bowlers picking three wickets while Anil Madal got two and Sagar Khadka claimed one. Three Malaysian batsmen ran themselves out.
In reply, Nepal began well with Sunny Pun scoring quickly and Anil with a quiet bat. Sunny scored 26 off 25 balls with six fours and fell to Derek Michael when Nepal had 27 runs on board.
Anil survived till seventeenth over scoring just 14 off 42 balls before Faris caught him off his own bowling. Importantly, he partnered Antim Thapa for 34 runs.
At 61/2 in 17 overs, the match was evenly poised. Antim (37 off 87) and Gyanendra took the match away from Malaysians, who had defeated Singapore a day earlier, adding 78 runs. Antim then was stumped out off captain Nik Azral Arifin leaving Nepal at 139/3 in 35 overs.
Nepal needed another 65 runs in 13 overs and needed some fireworks. Akash Gupta provided that scoring 24 off just 15 balls with four boundaries and the lone six of the innings before being bowled out by Sharul Nizam.
Gyanendra and Rom Shrestha then added required run without further damage to complete the task. Rom got 12 off 22 balls while man of the match Gyanendra scored 86 off just 90 balls with 10 hits to fence.
“It is one of my best innings,” Gyanendra said. “I knew I had to play with responsibility as the target was not an easy one.”
The skipper also praised Antim and Akash. “Antim played well for the partnership. Also Akash came with his fiery kncok to relieve pressure off me,” he added.
Nepal now meets Singapore on Saturday.
Photos by Nepal Sports Journalists Forum