A hat-trick of losses ensued as England outplayed Nepal by 127 runs in the final first-round match of the ICC U19 World Cup in Australia.
However, the loss was not what worried the Nepali cricket fans, rather it’s loss of flickers of brilliance in the team that had in past regularly beaten Test nations at the event.
The brilliance looked like there when England were 85/2 in 25 overs, but Nepali bowlers could not keep on the pressure as English batsmen played shots all over the ground and reached 274/7 in 50 overs scoring at the rate of 10 in last 10 overs.
England secured a berth to the quarter-finals with the win while Nepal will go into the Plate Championship as the bottom-of-the-table team from Group A.
Wicketkeeper batsman Ben Foakes was the topscorer in English innings with 92 while Ben Duckett made a rapid-fire 55 from 33 balls – getting a lot of runs in unconventional shots played to spinners. English batsmen who came to crease manage to chip in a few runs.
In Nepal’s innings, Shozair Ali and Reece Topley shared between then seven wickets as Nepal were shot out for 148 in 46 overs. But Nepal lost the match when it went down to 25/5 early in the innings.
Wicketkeeper Subash Khakurel managed 55 to ensure Nepal reach at least a reasonable score, Hasim Ansari chipped in 36 while Rahul BK continued batting good with unbeaten 20.
Nepal will next play Sri Lanka in the Plate Championship quarterfinals on August 20.