Faizrul Khan scored unbeaten 45 to help Nepal defeat United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 9 wickets in the opening match of the ACC U-19 Elite Cup at AIT Ground, Bangkok.
Faizrul and Sagar Pun partnered unbeaten 81 as Nepal chased UAE’s 87 in 16.3 overs losing only Subash Khakurel (5). Sagar remained unbeaten on 36.
Earlier, Avinash Karn and Krishna Karki picked up a wicket each early to nail down the UAE batsmen who struggled to score.
The spinners continued the disciplined bowling drying up runs and taking wickets frequently. UAE batsmen did not find any room to score and hit the innings’ first boundary in 27th over.
Rahul Kumar BK picked up three wickets for 18 runs while Krishna, Avinash and Bhuwan Karki claimed two wickets each. Captain Prithu Baskota also took a wicket.
Dan DeSuza topscored 21 and SN Ramesh got 14 for UAE.
Nepal will now meet Oman on February 2.
Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Qatar win
Defending champions Hong Kong defeated Bahrain by 109 runs at Prem Center. Hong Kong scored 274/9 in 50 overs – thanks to Nizakat Khan’s century and bowled out Bahrain for 165 in 38.1 overs.
Qatar defeated Malaysia by 62 runs after scoring 241/7 and bowling out Malaysia for 179 in 43.4 overs.
The biggest winner of the day were Afghanistan who defeated hosts Thailand by 249 runs. Afghanistan scored 326/8 and bowled out Thailand for 77 in 28 overs.
SCORECARD
| Round | League |
| Toss won by | Nepal |
| Umpires | Ashwani Rana & Dorji Laday |
| Scorers | Sandhya & Sahkwat |
| Player / Match | Khan, Faijlur Rahman |
| Match Refree | Richard Folds |
| United Arab Emirates Innings 87 All Out (Overs 47.2) |
| Batsman | Fieldsman | Bowler | Runs | Bls | 4s | 6s |
| Zamin Jaleel | c Rajesh Pulami | b Avinash Karn | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Aqib Malek* | c Faizrul Khan | b Krishna Karki | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Reuben Abraham | c Sagar Pun | b P Baskota | 13 | 61 | 0 | 0 |
| SN Ramesh | c P Baskota | b R Biswokarma | 14 | 59 | 0 | 0 |
| Chirag Suri | lbw | b Bhuwan Karki | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Waleed Ahmad | c Rajesh Pulami | b Krishna Karki | 16 | 62 | 2 | 0 |
| D D’Souza | c Krishna Karki | b Avinash Karn | 21 | 54 | 2 | 0 |
| Rohit Singh | c Pradeep Airee | b R Biswokarma | 4 | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| Mohsin Khan | c P Baskota | b Bhuwan Karki | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Saurabhkant Gir | st Subash Khakurel | b R Biswokarma | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Justin James | not out | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | |
| extras | (b0 lb0 w10 nb0) | 10 | ||||
| TOTAL | 10 wickets for | 87 |
| FOW |
| 1-2 2-7 3-30 4-33 5-42 6-69 7-79 8-82 9-87 10-0 |
| Bowler | O | M | R | W | wd | nb |
| Avinash Karn | 7 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 5 | – |
| Krishna Karki | 10 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 1 | – |
| Bhuwan Karki | 7.2 | 2 | 14 | 2 | – | – |
| R Biswokarma | 9 | 1 | 18 | 3 | 3 | – |
| P Baskota | 9 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 1 | – |
| Pradeep Airee | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | – |
| Rajesh Pulami | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | – |
| Sagar Pun | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | – | – |
| Nepal Innings 88/1 Closed (Overs 16.3) |
| Batsman | Fieldsman | Bowler | Runs | Bls | 4s | 6s |
| Subash Khakurel+ | c Zamin Jaleel | b Aqib Malek | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Faizrul Khan | not out | 46 | 47 | 7 | 1 | |
| Sagar Pun | not out | 37 | 43 | 6 | 0 | |
| extras | (b0 lb0 w4 nb0) | 4 | ||||
| TOTAL | 1 wickets for | 88 |
| FOW |
| 1-8(Subash Khakurel) |
| Bowler | O | M | R | W | wd | nb |
| Aqib Malek | 3 | 0 | 15 | 1 | – | – |
| Saurabhkant Gir | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | – |
| Waleed Ahmad | 6.3 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 2 | – |
| SN Ramesh | 1 | 0 | 17 | 0 | – | – |
| Justin James | 2 | 0 | 14 | 0 | – | – |
| Chirag Suri | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | – | – |