Nepal recorded a confidence-boosting eight-wicket win over Ireland ahead of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier final at Kinrara Oval in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday (October 21).
Tohidul Islam poses with his man-of-the-match award after hitting 71 in USA win over PNG. Photo by Rahul Sharma
In the final league match of the five-team tournament, Nepal restricted Ireland to 184 for 7 in 50 overs and then achieved the target in 42.5 overs.
The two sides had qualified for the final on Monday after winning three league matches each. The winner of Thursday’s final will become the last side to qualify for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2016, which will be staged in Bangladesh from 22 January to 14 February.
The stars of Nepal’s comfortable victory were off-spinner Prem Tamang and openers Sunil Dhamsala and Sandeep Sunar.
Electing to bat first, Ireland was restricted by Tamang, who returned figures of 10-0-35-4 as the European side finished with a total below 200. Tamang accounted for openers Jack Tector (43) and Andrew Austin (13), Adam Dennison (0) and William McClintock (1) as Ireland slipped from 53 for no loss in 14.1 overs to 101 for 7 in 30.5 overs.
Aaron Gillespie was the batsman who held Ireland’s innings together with a gritty 58 not out that came from 91 balls and included six fours and a six. Together with Tom Stanton, who scored 30 not out from 45 balls with three fours, Gillespie added 83 runs for the unbroken eighth wicket in nearly 19 overs.
In the chase, Dhamsala and Sunar put on 170 for the first wicket as Nepal coasted home for the loss of two wickets with more than seven overs to spare.
Sunar finished as the top scorer with a 119-ball 85 that had eight fours and a six, while Dhamsala scored 75 from 121 balls with three fours and as many sixes. “Sunil and I discussed that we must stick around till the end and deal in singles or doubles,” said Sunar of the partnership.
In the other match of the day, USA defeated PNG by five wickets. Tohidul Islam was the USA’s star performer with a well-constructed 71 that helped the American side achieve its 161-run target with 9.4 overs and five wickets to spare. Islam faced 101 balls and hit five fours and three sixes, as he put on 108 runs for the third wicket with Srihari Dasarathy (49).
“My performance was better than last game. I didn’t get the runs in the last game, so I worked hard and practiced and played according to that plan. That’s how I got runs today,” said Islam.
In the third/fourth position play-off, the USA will play Uganda on Thursday at the Royal Selangor Club.
Scores in brief:
Nepal beat Ireland by eight wickets at Kinrara Oval
Ireland 184-7, 50 overs (Aaron Gillespie 58 not out, Jack Tector 43, Tom Stanton 30 not out, Gary McClintock 27; Prem Tamang 4-35, Lalit Rajbanshi 2-25)
Nepal 190-2, 42.5 overs (Sandeep Sunar 85, Sunil Dhamsala 75)
USA beat PNG by five wicket at the Royal Selangor Club
PNG 160 all out, 41.3 overs (Vagi John 38; Mohak Buch 3-26, Sahil Patel 3-38)
USA 161-5, 40.2 overs (Tohidul Islam 71, Srihari Dasarathy 49)
Points Table
| Team | Played | Won | Lost | Tied | NR | Points | NRR |
| Nepal | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2.898 |
| Ireland | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2.059 |
| USA | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -1.054 |
| Uganda | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1.365 |
| PNG | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2.761 |