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 KUWAIT: BATTING

 KUWAIT: BOWLING

Nepal showed once again why they are the best team in Asia at ACC U-19 Cup level by winning the tournament for the fourth successive time at the Kinrara Oval. They beat a strong Afghanistan side by 48 runs, "But it wasn't easy," said their coach Roy Dias. "The boys had to work hard for their victory."

Choosing to bat first on a sunny morning and looking to score at least 200, they were in trouble from the start losing Shashi Kesari, caught behind, in the first over and then just three balls later, Gyanendra Malla played on to Izatullah Khan. Asghar Hussain almost had Paras Khadka in his next over, the ball just bouncing in front of second slip, Mohammad Khalid.

Afghanistan were on top and it took all of Khadka's and Mahesh Chhetri's experience to dig them out and their battle with Izzatullah and Asghar was compelling. Khadka tall, elegant and well-composed punished anything loose, with the stockier Chhetri very much playing a supporting role. Chhetri was pinged on the head, even Khadka had to hurry his strokes. Asghar Hussain, bowling straight through finally had his man when Khadka was bowled by a yorker. 47 for 3 soon became 60 for 5 in the 22nd over but then came the crucial partnership that wrested the game back towards Nepal.

Afghanistan's Shir Shirzai switched his bowlers around, even bringing back Izatullah but the Nepal's sixth wicket pair of Sagar Khadka and Aakash Gupta held firm and Gupta in particular, took the attack to the bowlers. He played beautifully for his 48 (48 balls, seven 4s and a 6) and put his team in a position to set a challenging total. Sagar Khadka, better known for his off-spin, kept on going and his 32 (79 balls, one 4) was a valuable contribution too.

None of the Nepali batsmen found it easy against a good Afghan attack on a wicket of variable bounce which was taking spin; the one consolation for Nepal in their struggles with the bat was that conditions wouldn't be any easier for Afghanistan during their innings.

Their total of 172 was going to be a challenging one and Afghanistan would have to be at their best to chase it down. "Cricket is a game  played 70% with the head and heart" said Roquibul Hassan of Bangladesh, an ACC Match Referee during this tournament. Nepal still, as it showed, have the edge on Afghanistan in that department.

Nepal were playing an extra spinner with Shashi Kesari''s leg-breaks brought in to replace fast-medium Chandra Sawad. The move certainly paid off in the afternoon, not before Nepal's new-ball bowlers had pegged back Afghanistan's top-order. Paras Khadka in particular bowled beautifully from the Kinrara Road end and could have taken any number of wickets. At 21 for 2 Obaidullah Kunari walked in, practically a folk-hero in Afghanistan thanks to his big-hitting this tournament. He's absolutely plundered runs scoring 196 up to today at a strike rate of 140.00.

Kunari smacked his first ball for 2, picked up his first boundary four balls later but was relatively subdued today. Nepal's attack - the best he's faced so far - didn't make it easy for him. He was always a little stiff and when he fell, caught by Sagar Khadka at mid-off inside the circle, hitting Rahul Kumar on the up, his foot not to the pitch, Nepal  had a big breakthrough.

The Afghan captain Sher Sherzai, not amongst the runs so far this tournament, kept the innings together but with only 5 off his first 26 balls, and just 20 more off his next 50 he was always having to play catch-up. He accelerated in the latter part of his innings but forced into taking a few too many risks, he fell in the deep for 66 off 115 (three 4s and one 6). He was the sixth Afghan wicket to fall. The run-rate had climbed to over a run-a-ball by now and the task was just too much for the remaining batsmen.

Raj Shrestha took a smart catch off his own bowling, moving to his left to dismiss Izatullah Khan and Nepal had won by 48 runs.

Four finals, four wins; unbeaten for six years at this level.

Nepal's captain Paras Khadka, a veteran of three  of those finals said, "The whole team played well. We've been together for a long time, new players have come as the game's spread across Nepal. It's been a great effort by the team, the coach, the  Association and all those supporting cricket back home."

With this victory in the ACC U-19 Elite Cup, Nepal qualify for the U-19 World Cup in Malaysia in 2008; they will be defending the Plate Trophy. There, Paras Khadka reckons, "We've beaten Bangladesh, Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa, we're up for it again."

FINAL
Afghanistan v Nepal at Kinrara Oval
NEPAL WON BY 48 RUNS
Nepal won the toss and chose to bat
Nepal: 172 off 49.4 overs (S. Khadka 32, A. Gupta 48)
Afghanistan: 124 off 45.5 overs (S. Sherzai 66; S. Kesari 3-32)
Man of the Match: Sher Sherzai (Afghanistan)

Kuwait were a great improvement in the field compared to their previous matches and in chasing Afghanistan's 251 for 9 initially put up a great fight. Shoeb Mohammed stroked his way beautifully to 54 (44 balls, nine 4s) being particularly hard on anything pitched up by Asghar Hussain and Izatullah Khan,  before being foxed by Sajed Khan's leg-spin. His opening partnership with Abdul Munaf worth 73 off 14 overs.

Kuwait were always within range of the required run-rate of just over 5 an over but were hemorrhaging wickets and once Navtej Singh (8) and then Munaf (42) fell, they were never going to reach 252. "We played a lot better as each match went on," said Kuwait's coach Kaleem-ul-Hassan, "but we just didn't quite pull it all together this tournament."

Afghanistan went through to a semi-final against UAE, with a 100% record from Group  B. "Not every match have we always played very good but we know we have  the players to win us matches  in any situation," said Afghanistan's coach Taj Malik.

The clash with UAE for a place in the final and a chance to play in the U-19 World Cup will be an epic contest.

The match could have gone either way. Both teams showed guts and the result was in doubt until the final Kuwaiti wicket, Muzammil Khalid was run out for 41 in the 47th over. The match had it all, hitting, brilliant catching and outstanding bowling. There was drama to the last. Neither side deserved to lose but Qatar it was who won by 12 runs to give themselves a chance of reaching the semi-finals.

Hosts Malaysia got their first win of the tournament with a narrow two-wicket victory over Kuwait at the Bayuemas Oval on Wednesday. They were made to work for every run and as the match neared the end, it turned out to be a nail-biter to the finish.

With both Malaysia and Kuwait sitting at the bottom of Group B, today’s match would decide which team would have the best chance of entering the semi-finals. After losing to Afghanistan on the opening day when batting first, the hosts chose to field at the Bayuemas Oval.

An early breakthrough in the 5th over gave the Malaysians a positive feeling. That feeling vanished as quickly as it arrived. The damage was done by Syed Ali Mehdi (40) and Syed Abdul Munaf (27) who put on a partnership of 67 runs that lasted 20 overs. Both batsmen gradually settled into a rhythm of pushing the singles and hitting the odd boundary. It was a clever performance as they created the singles and waited patiently for the wayward deliveries which they dispatched to the boundary in perfect style.

Although they both fell before the 30-over mark, Captain Abdul Liaqat (38) took over the role of frustrating the opposition. Liaqat was supported from the other end by Adnan Idress (23) and Syed Hassan Ali (22) right up to the 46th over before Liaqat mistimed a shot and saw his stumps knocked over by Sarath Ananthasivam (1-16).

While Shahid Ali Khan (2-50) and Nik Ariffin (2-34) picked away at the wickets in the middle order, the openers and tail-enders fell to the dead-on accuracy of Shahrulnizam Yusof (4-31) as Kuwait were bowled out in the 47th over for 170.

Although already having pre-qualified for the U-19 World Cup, the pressure would’ve obviously been excessive for Malaysia, being the hosts. Losing to Kuwait would almost certainly guarantee their exit in the first round.

This though didn’t seem an issue with openers Miran Salip (4) and Faris Lee (46) as they started with a strong run rate of 4.5 an over. There were however, moments of caution and one such instance led to Kuwait’s first scalp (Salip) and another two overs later (Shahid Ali Khan for 0) leaving the score at 36-2. With a strong performance badly needed by the hosts, Lee and Mohammad Norwira (21) emulated Kuwait’s Mehdi and Munaf. The pair lasted fourteen overs and may have only added 52 runs, but they wrestled the game back under Malaysia’s control.

The Malaysian middle order of Ahmad Faiz (19), Aminuddin Ramly (13) and Shafiq Sharif (18) all made contributions that further eased pressure on the tail-enders as Malaysia eventually saw out the match with two wickets and 2.4 overs remaining setting up and interesting show-down between the hosts and Hong Kong tomorrow at the Selangor Turf Club.

A cool-headed and mature show by Faris Almas Lee was enough to earn him his first Man of the Match award.

Malaysia KL. :"It was the worst ever defeat in the history of Kuwait cricket," said Kuwait's manager Asad Baig after his team went down by 138 runs at the Bayuemas Oval on the second day of the ACC U-19 Elite Cup. "We lost the match in our bowling," he continued. 40 wides in 50 overs tell their own tale as Kuwait's new ball bowlers fresh from a tour of dry and dusty Karachi couldn't come to terms with the shiny new white ball in hot and humid Kuala Lumpur.
Kuwait's wicket-keeper Abdul Munaf had a torrid time as he kept diving down the leg-side to gather booming inswinger after inswinger.
Robert Bacon (50 off 73) and Courtney Kruger (46 off 56) took full advantage of the wayward Kuwaiti attack, Kruger with seven fours being particularly severe on anything off his pads. Even the normally reliable spin of Navtej Singh didn't escape punishment as he went for 54 off his ten overs. Hong Kong lost their way a little after Kruger's fall, seventh out with the score on 198 in the 38th over. At one stage, a total of 270 looked possible and though 245 was a little below par, it was a challenging total for Kuwait to chase.

Kuwait didn't get out of the blocks. Hong Kong, cannily opened with the slow left-arm of John Bacon who reeled off 10 consecutive overs for just 26, taking the important wicket of Kuwait opener Shoeb Mohammed in the process. Three big wickets fell with the score on 40 (Mehdi, Singh, Mohammed) before the end of the 10th over and the remaining batsmen couldn't push on, only Munaf reaching double figures.

Notwithstanding this big victory, Hong Kong's coach Lal Jayasinghe said "We still have a lot to do. We need to up our game by at least 10% if we're going to get into the semi-finals. We're in a hard group ( with Afghanistan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Qatar) but if we play tough cricket we'll get through."

• Kuwait vs Thailand - KUWAIT WON BY 5 WKTS

• Afghanistan v Kuwait AFGHANISTAN WON BY 54 RUNS
• Malaysia v Qatar MALAYSIA WON BY 5 WKTS
• Singapore v UAE UAE WON BY 4 WICKETS
  
• Nepal v Oman NEPAL WON BY 8 WICKETS

• Oman v UAE UAE WON BY 96 RUNS
• Afghanistan v Hong Kong AFGHAN WON BY 17 RUNS
  
• Kuwait v Qatar QATAR WON BY 12 RUNS
• Singapore v Thailand SINGAPORE WON BY 73 RUNS

• Malaysia v Hong Kong MALAYSIA WON BY 7 WKTS
• Nepal v Thailand NO RESULT
  

• Malaysia v Kuwait - MALAYSIA WON BY 2 WKTS.
• Nepal v UAE l-NEPAL WON BY 6 WKTS.

• Thailand v UAE -UAE WON BY 10 WICKETS
  
• Oman v Singapore - SINGAPORE WON BY 55 RUNS
• Hong Kong v Kuwait - HONG KONG WON BY 138 RUNS
• Afghanistan v Qatar - AFGHANISTAN WON BY 40 RUNS

• Nepal v Singapore- NEPAL WON BY 7 WICKETS
• Malaysia v Afghanistan -AFGHAN WON BY 4 WKTS
• Oman v Thailand - OMAN WON BY 2 WICKETS
• Hong Kong v Qatar -QATAR WON BY 2 WICKETS