Nepal pulls off an exciting seven-run win over the UAE to qualify for the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2024 while Hong and Singapore win their last matches
Nepal pulled off a seven runs win thriller over the UAE in the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Asia Qualifier 2023 in Ajman to win a place in the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2024 scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka in 2024. Nepal’s Dipesh Kandel emerged the hero of the match with a spell of 5 for 31, which included a hat-trick, to shatter UAE’s hopes.
After an unbeaten run against all opponents, Nepal and UAE, the two strongest teams in the tournament, clashed at the Eden Garden Oval. UAE won the toss and put Nepal into bat. They posted 191 in 48.5 overs through their skipper Dev Khanal’s 51 runs off 84 balls with three boundaries and a six. Utttam Rangu Thapa scored 36 while Bishal Bikran hit 38.
UAE chased the total through Ethan Carl D’Souza’s 50 off 66 balls with eight boundaries and openers Aryan Saxena and Aryansh Sharma scoring 34 and 32 runs respectively, but were bowled out for 184 crashing to Dipesh Kandel’s deadly five wicket spell, especially a hat-trick with the last three deliveries of the match. Dipesh Kandel was judged the Player of the Match while UAE’s Dhruv Parashar, who was a consistent performer with the bat and ball, bagged the Player of the Series award.
In the other final round matches, Hong Kong defeated Malaysia by six wickets and Singapore downed Kuwait by 111 runs. Singapore posted 242 in 49.2 overs through Sidhanth Srikanth’s 94 off 99 balls with seven four and four sixes and Aaryan Modi’s 67 off 90 balls with seven boundaries. Kuwait were bowled out for 131.
Hong Kong defeated Malaysia by six wickets after bowling out Malaysia for 136 through a deadly seven wicket spell for 31 runs by Daniel Morgan Mapp. Hong Kong raced to the target in 26.2 overs through Jayden Botfield’s 55 runs off 57balls with seven boundaries and a six. Shiv Mathur chipped in with an unbeaten 41 off 40 balls with four boundaries.
Nepal’s nail-biting win over the UAE
UAE won the toss and elected to bowl at the Eden Garden Oval. Nepal lost their opener Deepak Bohara to the first ball of the first over from Harit Harish Shetty. In the fourth over Harit Harish struck again to having opener Arjun Kamal caught behind by Aryansh for 3. When Harit Harish removed one-drop Aakash Tirpathi clean bowled for 9, Nepal were struggling at 19 for 3 in 6.1 overs.
The mantle of lifting Nepal out of trouble now fell on skipper Dev Khanal. He, along with Uttam Rangu Thapa, took the score past the 50 run mark in the first ball of the 14th over from Monish Gajesh, when Dev Khanal hit a six. Uttam Rangu Thapa scored boundaries off UAE skipper Aayan Afzal in the 13th and 15th over. The pair began to pick the gaps and kept moving the score smoothly. Aayan Afzal ended the 84 runs partnership for the fourth wicket by trapping Uttam Rangu Thapa leg before for 36. At the score on 115, Ammar Badami picked the valuable wicket of skipper Devn Khanal caught by Aayan Afzal for 51. This slipped Nepal to 115 for 5 in 27.5 overs.
Bishal Bikram then began to stroke fluently and picked boundaries from almost every over. Milan Bohara provided good support and took the score to 153 in 37.3 overs when Milan Bohara was run out by Monish for 10. Five runs later, Bishal Bikram got trapped leg before by Aayan Afzal for 38. Nepal lost their eighth wicket when Subash Bhandari got caught behind by wicketkeeper Aryansh off Dhruv Parashar for 2. Dipesh Kandel and Hemant Dhami carried the score to 181 when Dhruv Parashar struck again to have Hemant caught by Aryan for 13. Dhruv Parashar picked his third wicket by having Dipesh Kandel caught by Harsh for 15 to bowl out Nepal for 191 in 48.5 overs.
UAE chased the target refusing to play risky shots and picking the gaps well. Opener Aryan Saxena and Aryansh Sharma put on a 50 runs partnership by the 14th over. At the score on 67, Aryansh Sharma got clean bowled to Subash Bhandari for 32. Dhruv Parashar, hero of many of UAE’s wins in this tournament, joined Aryan Saxena. Four runs after, Dipesh Kandel had opener Aryan Saxena too out caught by substitute Dipak Prasad for 34.
UAE skipper Aayan Afzal walked in with UAE needing 121 runs in 29.2 overs but Subash struck a vital blow having Aayan Afzal caught by Dev for a duck. Ethan Carl D’Souza joined Dhruv Parashar when there was the pressure of the fall of quick wickets. They put on 42 runs for the fourth wicket before Dipesh Kandel had Dhruv Parashar caught by Bishal Bikram for 17.
Ammar Badami joined a freely stroking Ethan Carl D’Souza who raced to his half century in 64 balls with eight boundaries. UAE needed another 39 runs in 7.4 overs when Ethan Carl D’Souza got bowled by Hemant Dhami for 50. Maroof Merchant joined Ammar Badami but Ammar Badami got run out to Subash for 19 with 30 runs needed in 6.3 overs.
Harsh Desai and Maroof Merchant then made it to 19 runs needed off the last five overs. But when 15 runs were needed Hemant Dhami struck to get Harsh Desai caught by Aaksah for 7. Dipesh Kandel quickened the end through a hat-trick in the 48th over getting Harshit Seth clean bowled for 4 with the fourth delivery, Harit Harish Shetty caught by Dev for a duck with the next ball, and then clean bowling Monish Gajesh also for a duck to the last ball of the over and return with figures of 5 for 31.
Speaking about his match winning hat-trick spell, Dipesh Kandel said: “It feels like I am out of the world. I am so happy to have got a hat-trick that too in a crucial and take my team to the World Cup.”
Nepal captain Dev Kandel said: “Miracles do happen and our boys showed it through commitment to win a close match. We knew if we cross 170 runs we can pull off a victory and all the boys contributed - be it batting, bowling and fielding to win this match.
UAE skipper Aayan Afzal Khan said: All credit to Nepal to put up a strong performance. We did well throughout the tournament but unfortunately Nepal edged us out in the crucial match. We all will learn from the mistakes.”
Brief scores:
Nepal bt UAE by 7 runs. Nepal 191 in 48.5 overs (Dev Khanal 51, Uttam Rangu Thapa 36, Bishal Bikram 38, Harit Harish Shetty 2 for 35, Aayan Afzal Khan 2 for 34, Dhruv Parashar 3 for 18) UAE 184 in 48 overs (Aryan Saxena 34, Aryansh Sharma 32, Ethan Carl D’Souza 50, Hemant Dhami 2 for 34, Dipesh Kandel 5 for 31, Subash Bhandari 2 for 39)
Player of the Match: Dipesh Kandel (Nepal)
Player of the series: Dhruv Parashar (UAE)
Daniel Morgan Mapp’s seven wicket spell sinks Hong Kong
Malaysia won the toss and elected to bat at the Malek Ground. They lost both their openers for single digit scores. First to go was Sidharth Karthik Rajaratnam, caught behind wicketkeeper Charlie John off Daniel Morgan Mapp for 5. Opener Mohammad Hairil Harisan got caught by Jayden off Daniel Morgan for 4.
Then Muhammad Akram Malek and Mohammad Hariz Afnan steadied the innings. They took the score to 40 in 9.3 overs when Mohammad Hariz Afnan became Daniel Morgan’s third victim clean bowled for 10. At the score on 53, Darsh Vora got Muhammad Akram Malek caught by Parth for 18.
Siddharth Neelakantan and Muhammad Aalif Shamsul Bahrin pushed the score to 81 when Muhammad Aalif Shamsul Bahrin got bowled by Daniel Morgan for 15. Daniel Morgan picked his fifth wicket by having Muhammad Azri Azhar caught by Ahan for a duck. Siddharth Neelakantan and Shivnarin Rahul Rajatnam steered the total past the 100-run mark but at the score on 106 Siddharath fell leg before to Ahan Trivedi for 20. Ahan Trivedi also got Muhammad Aiman Zaquan caught by Shiv for 8. Malaysia lost their ninth wicket for 131 when Shivnarin Rahul got bowled by Daniel Morgan for 18. Malaysia got all out for 136 in 36.3 overs. Daniel Morgan returned with figures of 7 for 31 from his ten overs.
Hong Kong began their chase losing opener Aarez Dar to Muhammad Akram, caught by Shivnarin Rahul for 6. Their consistent opener Jayden Botfield went for his shots and along with Shiv Mathur put on 51 runs for the second wicket before being caught and bowled by Shivnarin Rahul for 55.
Parth Bhagwat joined Shiv Mathur, who played the second fiddle to Jayden, and took the score past the 100 run mark. At the score on 120, Parth Bhagwat got out caught behind by wicketkeeper Sidharth Karthik off Shivnari Rahul for 23. Next man Abdul Samad Khan too got out six runs later caught by Muhammad Azri Azhar for 1.
Shiv Mathur through an unbeaten 41 and Charlie John Walsh (5n.o) took Hong Kong to the target in 26.2 overs.
Brief scores:
Hong Kong bt Malaysia by 6 wkts. Malaysia 136 in 36.3 overs (Siddharth Neelakantan 20, Daniel Morgan Mapp 7 for 31, Ahan Trivedi 2 for 19) Hong Kong 140 for 4 in 26.2 overs (Jayden Botfield 55, Shiv Mathur 41n.o, Parth Bhagwat 23, Shivnarin Rahul Rajatnam 3 for 34)
Player of the Match: Daniel Morgan Mapp
Sidhanth Srikanth misses century in Singapore’s big win
Kuwait won the toss and elected to bowl at the Malek Ground. Singapore lost their opener Pratham Somani trapped leg before by Talha Hassan for 2. Kabir Zandani and Abhuday Chhajer took the score to 42 in 10.4 overs when Yusuf Sadiq Basha clean bowled Abhuday for 11. Eleven runs later, Pranav Nitin Maheshwari fell leg before to Yusuf Sadiq Basha for 4. Opener Kabir Zandani, who was stroking well, got bowled by Yusuf Sadiq Basha for 25 at the score on 59.
This brought in Singapore’s consistent batters Sidhanth Srikanth and Aaryan Modi at the crease. They took the score past the 100-run mark in 24.2 overs. They went on to record a 162 runs partnership for the fight wicket when Sidhanth Srikanth, who looked all set to score a century, got out to Arsh Sahil caught by Jude Christopher for 94. Nine runs later, Aryaveer got out to Gautham Mohandas, caught by Yusuf Sadiq Basha for 7. After two more runs were scored, Thiyanesh Venkatesan and Jeevan Santhanam fell with Thiyanesh getting caught by Talha for 4 and Jeevan getting out leg before to Arsh Sahil. Singapore thus posted an impressive 242 in 49.2 overs.
Kuwait began their chase losing their consistent opener and captain Jude Christopher Saldhana for 17, caught by Mahiyu off Adwitya at the score on 21. One-drop Het Kishorebhai Hinsu fell for 6 caught by Pranav Nitin off Aryaveer Chaudhary after 11 more runs were added to the total. When opener Jay Maheshkumar Mehta got bowled by Jeevan Santhanam, Kuwait were 46 for 3 in 12.4 overs. Saud Mohamed Sadath too followed at the score on 57, caught and bowled by Pranav Nitin for 16.
Gautham Mohandas Poolakkal and Yusuf Sadiq Basha took the score to 83 by the half way mark. Two runs after, Yusuf Sadiq Basha got caught by Mahiyu off Thiyanesh Venkatesan for 15. Henry Thomas joined Gautham Mohandas and took the score past the 100-run mark but at the score on 106, Henry Thomas got caught by Mahiyu off Abhuday Chhajer for 6. To make matters worse, Gautham got run out to Mahiyu for 28. When Arsh Sahil Kazmi too got removed by Abhuday Chhajer for a duck, Singapore took a firm grip on the match.
Ethan Sanjay Cherian and Talha Hassan held on to take the score to 124 before Talha Hassan got bowled out to Jeevan Santhanam for 4. When Arsh Sahil Kazmi got out caught by Mahiyu off Abhuday Chhajer for a duck, Kuwait were bowled out for 131 in 41.1 overs.
Brief scores:
Singapore bt Kuwait by 111 runs. Singapore 242 in 49.2 overs (Kabir Zandani 25, Sidhanth Srikanth 94, Aaryan Modi 67, Arsh Sahil Kazmi 3 for 31, Yusuf Sadiq Basha 3 for 54, Gautam Mohandas Poolakkal 2 for 34) Kuwait 131 in 41.1 overs (Gautham Mohandas Poolakkal 28, Jeevan Santhanam 2 for 20, Abhuday Chhajer 3 fort 24)
Player of the Match: Sidhanth Srikanth