This section is empty.

For a change it was Dipendra Chand who bagged man-of-the-match award in Nepal’s 32-run win over Malaysia to set up a title clash against Singapore at the Tribhuvan University Ground on Tuesday. Before today’s match, all-rounder Nishcal Pandey has been adjudged man-of-the-match in three games Nepal had played previously at the ACC U-16 Elite Cup.

Chand, the 15-year-old youngster from Mahendra Nagar, anchored Nepal’s innings with his 44 runs.

The number four batsman had come to the crease with Nepal at 45-2 in 16th over. He faced 58 balls for his 44 runs and took the total to 138 runs before Mohammad Nasirudin Mazlah ran him out in the 36th over. A jubilant Dipendra said he was happy to have contributed to the team’s win. “I am happy to have played a vital role in taking my country into the final,” said the ninth grader at Adarsh Vidya Mandir. “I simply concentred on getting singles and doubles and keep the scoreboard ticking.”

Chasing a target of 162 runs, Malaysia were bundled out for 132. Spinners once again played a vital role as Bibek Chaudhary and Rajiv Shah took three wickets each to bowl Malaysia out in 38.1 overs.

Nischal got the breakthrough in the ninth over when he got opener Razkan Zalati out for eight runs. Bibek then sent the danger man Amerul Hussin (20 runs) packing in the 16th over.

Azwan Idris and Tharmaraj Mohan held the innings together adding 33 runs for the sixth wicket. Devendra Somare had Tharmaraj caught by Nischal in the 34th over to reduce Malaysia to 112-6. Malaysia never looked to be in the match from then on.

Dipendra stitched together a 43-run partnership with Sanam Shrestha (24 runs) which helped Nepal reach a total of 162 runs in the allotted 40 overs. Opener Sharad Khadka contributed 23 runs. Syahadat Ramli and Fetri Sham took three and four wickets respectively for Malaysia.

Nepal’s coach Roy Dias expressed happiness at his team’s march into the final. “It is simply great to have the kind of team I have,” he said. But he expressed concern at the poor performance of his middle order. “Singapore is a very good side. In order to win the final our middle order needs to deliver,” he added.

Singapore meanwhile thumped Hong Kong by 133 runs to cruise in to final. Justifying Singapore’s decision to bat first, Vikas Raj Gopal scored 68 runs at the Engineering College Ground.  Likewise, Keshav Seshadri and Mohit Kulkarni chipped in with 37 and 39 runs respectively as Singapore put up a huge total of 230 runs in the allotted 40 overs. Shiva Ahuja took three while Iishaan Shekhar and Saisrikar Pogaru shared two wickets each to wrap up Hong Kong’s innings for 97 runs in 30.1 overs.

Likewise, Kuwait secured seventh place with a 69-run win over Thailand at the Army Ground. Chasing a target of 160 runs Thailand were all out for 90 runs at the Birendra Sainik Ground.