Nepali pacer Avinash Karn was adjudge the best bowler of the ACC U-19 Elite Cup that concluded on Saturday in Malaysia but Nepali U-19 team suffered a six-wicket defeat with the host in third place play off.
Karn had claimed 24 wickets from the six matches with an economy of 4.21. His best bowling figure was against Bahrain in the group stage match, where he had claimed eight wickets for 24 runs including a hat-trick. His bowling average in the tournament was 8.33.
Avinash Karn with the best bowlers trophy. (Photo Courtesy: BIKRAM GIRI)
However, Karn’s individual success was the only thing to cheer by the Nepali team as the host Malaysia secured third place beating Nepal on Saturday.
Winning the toss and electing to bat first at Bayuemas Oval ground in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia bowled Nepal out just for 118 runs in 44 overs.
Chasing the modest victory target of 119 runs, Malaysia overcame it in 38.3 overs losing four wickets. For Malaysia, Ahmad Tajudin Ismail made 34 runs while Muhammad Syahadat Ramli scored 31 not out. Karn grabbed two Malaysian wickets.
Earlier, Ameet Shrestha top scored with 32 runs for Nepal while Harishankar Sah contributed 25 runs and Nirmal Thapa scored 12 runs to set modest target against Malaysia. Except the trio, others have failed even to reach in the double figure.
Kogilan Muthu grabbed three Nepali wickets while Muhammad Syahadat Ramli, Pavandeep Singh and Varun Nadesh took two wickets each. Dhivendran Mogan bagged a wicket for Malaysia.
On Friday, Nepal was defeated by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 76 runs in the semifinals of the ACC U-19 Elite Cup. Likewise, Malaysia was defeated by Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan has won the title of ACC U-19 Elite Cup defeating the UAE by 10 wickets. After choosing to bat, the UAE was outplayed by Afghanistan and was bundled out for 57 in 27.2 overs.
Left-arm spinner Zia-ur-Rehman bowled brilliantly and claimed four wickets while Hashmatullah Shaidi claimed three wickets.
Afghanistan met the target in 11.1 overs without losing any wicket as Shaidi struck 50 runs off 43 balls.
Despite UAE’s defeat, both the teams now move on to the ICC U19 World Cup next year, Afghanistan as the Asia Region winner and UAE as the host.