Nepal finishes second

KATHMANDU, Aug 10: Nepal finished the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers campaign with second position defeating the USA by 99 runs in the last match Tuesday. Nepal won seven matches and lost two in the tournament participated by 10 teams from five ICC regions.



Nepal, electing to bat first at the Limavady Cricket Club, Ireland, put up 264 runs in 50 overs at the loss of nine wickets. [break]



Man-of-the-match Naresh Budhayair and Pradeep Airee showed their class in batting to provide platform for Krishna Karki to play big shots. Budhayair (76 runs off 94 balls) and Airee (57 runs off 67 balls) put up a 113-run partnership for the fifth wicket to lift Nepal from the situation of 78/4. Budhayair hit five boundaries and three sixes while Airee hit three boundaries and equal number of sixes.



Salman Ahmad removed Budhayair from the crease in 43.5 overs but Nepali pacer Krishna Karki came to the crease with all his guns blazing at number eight. Karki smashed 45 runs off just 17 balls with three boundaries and four sixes. The fine batting display by the Nepali trio helped Nepal earn 111 runs from the last 10 overs.



Faijlur Rahman scored 26 runs opening the innings while Rajesh Pulami Magar added 16 runs. Salman Ahmad and Hammad Shahid were the most successful bowlers for the USA as they both took three wickets each.



After the batsmen, it was Nepali bowlers’ turn to show their class and they wrapped up the USA for 165 runs in 44.1 overs.



Left-arm orthodox Rahul Vishvakarma took four wickets equaling his own record. With the four wickets, Vishvakarma took his wickets tally to 21, highest by Nepali player in any international tournament. Vishvakarma had claimed 21 wicketes during the ACC U-19 Elite Cup held in Thailand in February.



Pacer Avinash Karna gave Nepal good start and dismissed the USA opener Cameron Mirza and Abhijit Joshi in the fifth and the sixth balls of the first over.



Opener Steven Taylor (52 runs off 58 balls) and Salman Ahmad (38 runs off 75 balls) tried to resist the Nepali bowling attack but Nepali skipper Prithu Baskota ousted Taylor from the crease.



Baskota trapped Shayan Abdulghani (21 runs off 35 balls) in an lbw serving another blow to the USA team while Krishna Karki and Sagar Pun took one wicket each.



Scotland stood on the top of the table with eight wins and a loss while Ireland finished third with six wins and three losses. Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea and Namibia came fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.



The top six teams in the tournament will play ICC U-19 World Cup 2012 in Australia. The USA, Canada, Kenya and Vanuatu could not qualify to the World Cup.



Points Table

Teams           Played       Won      Lost     Pts     Net RR

Scotland         9                 8            1           16       +0.949



Nepal              9                 7            2           14        +0.923



Ireland            9                 6            3           12         +0.612



Afghanistan   9                 5            4           10         +0.692



Papua NG      9                 5            4           10        +0.302



Namibia         9                 4            5            8          +0.492



USA                 9                 4            5            8         -0.118



Canada          9                 4            5            8         -0.355



Kenya             9                  2           7            4          -0.839



Vanuatu         9                 0           9             0          -2.942

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