Mandal and Chhetri shared an opening partnership of 139 runs as Nepal surpassed the 217-run target in 43.2 overs to register their third victory in a row. Mandal who hit his second half century of the tournament was out for 83. He struck seven boundaries and a six facing 93 balls. [break]
This is the highest partnership for Nepal´s national team. Earlier, skipper Paras Khadka and Sarad Vesawkar had a 130-run partnership against Fiji for the fourth wicket in the Pepsi World Cricket League Division-5 in the capital in February.
Chhetri was run out for 87 after Nepal inched closer to the run chase. Chhetri hit eight fences in his 111-ball knock.
This is Mandal´s and Chhetri´s highest score for the national team. Mandal while hitting his first half-century in one-day internationals had scored 72 runs against title holders Hong Kong in the first match of the tournament. Likewise, Chhetri had scored 65 runs against Vanuatu in the Pepsi World Cricket League Division-5 at Jersey in 2008.
Captain Kdahdka was out for eight after Mandal´s dismissal. Vesawkar and Dipendra Chaudhary remained unbeaten on 18 and nine runs respectively.
Earlier, electing to bat first, Singapore were all out for 216 runs in 49 overs. Philip Childs topscored with 40 runs while Buddhika Mendis (36), captain Munish Arora (31) and Chetan Suryawanshi (32) contributed for Singapore.
Shakti Gauchan pocketed two wickets for Nepal while Rahul Kumar BK, Basanta Regmi, and Sanjam Regmi hauled one wicket apiece.
In their first two matches, Nepal had defeated Hong Kong by 118 runs and Oman by six wickets respectively. Nepal will take on hosts Kuwait in their last group match on Tuesday.
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