The four strongest teams in the ACC U-16 Eastern Region Tournament being held in Thailand have been confirmed as Nepal and Hong Kong qualified for the semi-finals from Group A in Bangkok and Singapore and Malaysia qualified from Group B in Chiang Mai.



Nepal look to be an outstanding side as they beat Myanmar by a remarkable 337 runs and Singapore also won three out of three matches in Group B. Hong Kong finished as runners up in Group A after beating Thailand while Malaysia defeated Bhutan to finish second in Group B.



The semi-finals will be played in Bangkok on Saturday 16th December with Nepal facing Malaysia at TCG and Singapore meeting Hong Kong at AIT. The final will be played on the following day and we should see some exciting cricket over the weekend and. several stars of the future will be uncovered.

Singapore's Raoul Sharma

Nepal have been making the headlines all week and look to be a very powerful side and today they were ruthless against Myanmar at TCG. Winning the toss and electing to bat they started in untroubled fashion and the middle-order proceeded to strike the ball to all corners of the ground.



Nepal posted the highest score of the tournament by a distance as they made 350 for 6 in 35 overs with Rit Gautam scoring the first century of the tournament as he hit 106 from 78 balls with 12 fours.



Remarkably both Trit Raj Das (64 from 29) and Pratis GC (63* form 31) scored at an even faster rate so that Nepal scored their runs at exactly 10 an over against the unfortunate Myanmar attack who can be commended for taking six wickets. Myanmar’s batsmen fared even worse as they managed a total of just 13 as Narayan Joshi and Mekh Thapa both claimed four wickets as only six runs were scored off the bat.



Hong Kong finished second behind Nepal in Group A after beating Thailand by nine wickets at AIT. Both sides had beaten Myanmar and lost to Nepal so it was a winner takes all encounter but Hong Kong were far too strong for the hosts.



Thailand were in trouble from the start as they were soon four wickets down with four runs on the board. Dananjay Rao was impressive with the new ball as he took three early wickets and he was well supported by Nasrulla Rana who had figures of 2 for 10 in his 7 overs.



The end came quickly with Hussain Khan taking the last four wickets as Thailand were bowled out for 44. Hong Kong reached 45 for 1 in 10.1 overs to record a comfortable victory by nine wickets with Kalhan Challu unbeaten on 23.

China's Zihao Wang

Singapore had won their first two matches but still needed to confirm their place in the semi-finals with China proving a very dangerous side as they first beat Bhutan and then gave Malaysia a fright in their earlier matches. China showed the same confidence by choosing to bat first at Royals and the loss of three early wickets did not deter them.



Opener Guhao Gao made a determined 18 from 60 balls as he played out 53 dot balls but captain Zihao Wang hit two sixes in his 18 from 32 balls. At one stage China were 46 for 3 but although wickets fell the last pair did well to see out the overs and bring their team to a total of 87 for 9.



Raoul Sharma had taken two wickets in an over at the start but it was the slow left-arm spin of Ishaan Sawney (3 for 26) and the leg-spin of Aryan Berry which caught the eye and Sawney completed another fine all-round performance with 35* from 33 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes as Singapore won by eight wickets, just needing 11.5 overs to reach their target of 88.

Malaysia's Muhammad Shahid

Malaysia had been rocked in their first match by losing to Singapore by 29 runs and they had been made to work hard for their victory against China but they were more convincing victors over Bhutan at Prem as they won by 171 runs to confirm their position as runners up.



Malaysia batted first and their innings was a well-balanced contest between bat and ball as five Malaysians were dismissed in the twenties before Shamsul Ikmal made an unbeaten 31 to see his team to a score of 222 for 9. Bhutan kept going well in the field and were rewarded with three run outs for their efforts.

Malaysia v Bhutan

Left-arm wrist spinner Tshering Penjor caught the eye but it was the Malaysian spinners that made a real impact as Bhutan struggled with the bat. Vijay Unni was impossible to get away with his orthodox left-arm spin as he returned the almost immaculate figures of 7-6-1-2 but it was Muhammad Shahid who was the main wicket-taker and was named man of the match as he took 4 for 12 as Bhutan were dismissed for 51.



The four semi-finalists look to be the four best sides in the competition so we should witness some excellent cricket over the weekend in Bangkok, but it is farewell to Thailand, China, Bhutan and Myanmar who will have enjoyed participating in this wonderful development tournament.



ACC U16 EASTERN REGION 2017

Day 4: Thu Dec 14



Bhutan v Malaysia at Prem

MALAYSIA WON BY 171 RUNS

Malaysia won the toss and chose to bat

Malaysia: 222 for 9 off 35 overs (S.Shamsulazman 31*)

Bhutan: 51 all out off 21.1 overs (S.Adzli 4-12)



China v Singapore at RCGC

SINGAPORE WON BY EIGHT WICKETS

China won the toss and chose to bat

China: 87 for 9 off 35 overs (I.Sawney 3-26, A.Berry 3-6)

Singapore: 88 for 2 off 11.5 overs (I.Sawney 35*)



Myanmar v Nepal at TCG

NEPAL WON BY 337 RUNS

Nepal won the toss and chose to bat

Nepal: 350 for 6 off 35 overs (K.Malla 36, B.Bikram 42, R.Gautam 106*, T.Das 64, G.Pratis 63*; H.Aung 3-70)

Myanmar: 13 all out off 11.3 overs (N.Joshi 4-1, M.Thapa 4-4)



Thailand v Hong Kong at AIT

HONG KONG WON BY NINE WICKETS

Thailand won the toss and chose to bat

Thailand: 44 all out off 26 overs (D.Rao 3-11, H.Mohammad 4-9)

Hong Kong: 45 for 1 off 13.3 overs

Written by Richard Lockwood

Filed December 14th, 2017

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