Kathmandu, 1 Jul: After a brilliant century from Raunak Srivastab and an outstanding performance by the bowlers, Nepal registered a comprehensive victory over Bhutan in their final group-stage match of the ACC Men’s U-16 East Zone Cricket Tournament.
Chasing a massive target of 359 runs set by Nepal, Bhutan managed to score only 60 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in 32.4 overs, giving Nepal a thumping 298-run win. Rain began to fall after the ninth wicket fell, and with the final batter not coming out to bat, the match was officially declared over.
Bhutan’s Sejang Dawa was the top scorer with 14 runs, followed by Ugyen Kelzang, who contributed 10 runs.
For Nepal, captain Bipin Prasad Sharma delivered an exceptional bowling performance, taking 4 wickets while conceding just 7 runs in 10 overs, including 6 maidens.
Sachin Bhatta also impressed, bowling 8 overs with 5 maidens, giving away only 15 runs and taking 2 wickets. Suyog Bhattarai chipped in with 2 wickets as well.
Earlier, after winning the toss and opting to bat first, Nepal posted a massive total of 358 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in 50 overs. This is the second-highest team total in the tournament so far—Nepal had earlier set the highest total of 420 runs against Indonesia.
Raunak played a sensational innings, scoring 168 runs off 132 balls, including 16 fours and 5 sixes. This is the highest individual score ever made by a Nepali player in any official tournament. The previous record was held by Arjun Kumal, who scored 143 runs against Saudi Arabia in the ACC U-19 Premier Cup in October 2023.
Joy Thapa remained unbeaten on 61, while Shivansh Bajgai contributed 54 runs. Although Nepal lost both openers early with just 17 runs on the board, Raunak built a 91-run partnership with Shivangsha for the third wicket and later added 72 runs with Sugam Budhathoki for the fourth wicket. Sugam scored 35 runs.
After reaching 180 for 4, Raunak and Joy Thapa put together a formidable 170-run partnership. For Bhutan, Sanjay Dorji took 3 wickets, while Tenzin Loday claimed 1 wicket.
In their previous matches, Nepal had defeated Singapore by 6 wickets in the opening game, crushed Japan by 9 wickets in the second match, and registered a massive 370-run win over Indonesia in the third.
In Group A, Nepal sits at the top with 8 points from 4 matches, while Singapore has 6 points from 3 wins in 4 matches. Both teams have qualified for the semifinals. Nepal will now face Malaysia in the semifinal clash.
