Kathmandu: Nepal defeated Bhutan by a margin of 298 runs in the final group match of the ACC Men’s U-16 East Zone Cricket Cup. The match took place at the Selangor Turf Club Ground in Malaysia.
According to National News Agency Nepal, Nepal won the toss and elected to bat first, scoring 358 runs with the loss of 5 wickets in their allotted 50 overs. Raunak Shrivastava was the standout performer for Nepal, scoring 168 runs off 132 balls. Joy Thapa contributed an unbeaten 61 runs, while Shivans Bajgain and Sugam Budhathoki added 54 and 35 runs respectively.
On the bowling front for Bhutan, Sangay Dorji claimed 3 wickets and Tenzin Loday took 1 wicket. Bhutan, chasing a target of 359, could only manage to score 60 runs for the loss of nine wickets in 32.4 overs, with the last batsman failing to take the field. Tshezang Dawa scored 14 runs and Ugyan Chophel made 10 runs for Bhutan.
For Nepal, Captain Bipin Prasad Sharma delivered an impressive performance, taking 4 wickets. Sachin Bhatta and Suyog Bhattarai supported him by taking 2 wickets each. Nepal, having topped Group ‘A’ with four straight wins, is now set to face host Malaysia in the semi-final scheduled for Thursday.