Nepal register 274 runs victory over Iran

 Nepal: Dev Khanal and Deepak Bohara brought up a century partnership as Nepal registered a 274-run victory over Iran in the ACC Mens U19 Premier Cup 2023 held at the UKM Cricket Oval in Malaysia on Thursday.

                                           photo: TKP

Sent in to bat first, the U19 Rhinos were off to a shaky start as they lost Opener Arjun Kumal for a golden duck on the second delivery. Aakash Tirpathi was next to go as he was caught leg before by Dadrahman Raeisi while Nepal tottered 2-10.

Captain Khanal brought some much-needed relief as he cracked a century off of his 60-knock play, helping Nepal post a massive target of 354 runs. Khanal and Opener Bohara put on a 166-run partnership, as Nepal scored 353 runs, losing all wickets in 40.1 overs.

The U19 captain smashed 12 boundaries and four sixes, while Bohara put up a 59-ball 65 on the scoreboard, smashing five hits to the fences and two sixes. Khanal was caught by Iran’s Zeid Raeisi in 20.1 overs while the latter was caught by Amer Khorsand off Raeisi in 21.4 overs.

Likewise, wicketkeeper Dipak Prasad Dumre smashed eight hits to the fences and two sixes, contributing 69 runs off of his 44-ball play. He was caught by Dadrahman Raeisi in 30.5 overs.

Dipesh Kandel managed a 22-ball 29, while Hemant Dhami also contributed 23 runs off of 19 balls. The batters were caught in 31.5 and 36.6 overs respectively.

Iran’s Amer Khorsand smashed five sixes and a boundary as he scored a 22-ball 37. Saber Ebrahimipour also managed an unbeaten 11 off of his 43-knock play, smashing one hit to the fence.

None of the other Iranian batters managed to score in double digits.

For Nepal, Subash Bhandari and Dipesh Kandel grabbed three wickets each while Akash Chand and Hemant Dhami also collected two Iranian scalps each.

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