KUALA LUMPUR: Raunak Srivastava smashed a scintillating century to help Nepal thrash Bhutan by a massive 298 runs in the ACC Men’s U-16 East Zone Cup cricket tournament on Tuesday.
With this commanding win, Nepal has secured a place in the semifinals as the top team from Group A.
Batting first after winning the toss, Nepal posted a mammoth 358/5 in 50 overs. Raunak led the charge with a brilliant 168 runs off 132 balls, hammering 16 fours and 5 sixes. His innings proved to be the backbone of Nepal’s formidable total.
Despite an early wobble at 17/2, Raunak stabilized the innings with a 91-run third-wicket partnership with Shivansha Bajgain, who scored 54 off 52 balls. Raunak then added 72 runs with Sugam Budhathoki (35 off 33) for the fourth wicket and forged a match-defining 170-run stand with Joy Thapa for the fifth wicket. Thapa remained unbeaten on 61 off 67 balls, hitting 7 fours.
For Bhutan, Sanjay Dorji was the pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets.
In reply, Bhutan crumbled under pressure, managing only 60 runs in 32.4 overs. Their final batter did not come to the crease, resulting in an official end to the innings. Sujan Dawa top-scored with just 14 runs, while no other batter reached double digits.
Nepal captain Bipin Prasad Sharma delivered a superb bowling performance, taking 4 wickets for just 7 runs in 10 overs. Sachin Bhatta and Suyog Bhattarai took 2 wickets each, completing the demolition job.
Nepal has now won all four group-stage matches, finishing at the top of Group A with a perfect record. In contrast, Bhutan lost all four of their games and has been eliminated from the tournament.
Group A consists of Nepal, Singapore, Indonesia, Bhutan, and Japan, while Malaysia, Hong Kong, Maldives, Thailand, and Myanmar are in Group B.
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