Nepal’s U-16 cricket team has once again proven its dominance in youth cricket, clinching the ACC U-16 East Zone Cup 2024 with a thrilling 2-wicket win over Singapore in the final held on Saturday.
Chasing a modest target of 114 runs, Nepal overcame a dramatic batting collapse to seal the win in 29 overs, with Joy Thapa’s unbeaten 24 anchoring the innings. Despite being in deep trouble at 92/8, Thapa and Abhay Yadav held their nerve — with Abhay smashing a match-winning six to take Nepal over the line.
Singapore’s Kapish Venkataraman was the standout bowler, taking 4 wickets, but lacked support to stop Nepal’s late surge.
Earlier, Singapore won the toss and opted to bat first, but were bowled out for 113 in 40.5 overs. Rohan Austin top-scored with 23 runs. Nepal’s bowling unit delivered once again, with Abhay Yadav and Sushil Bahadur Rawal picking up 3 wickets each, while Shubham Khanal grabbed 2 and captain Bipin Prasad Sharma chipped in with 1.
This marks Nepal’s second straight U-16 East Zone Cup title, having also lifted the trophy in 2023. Prior to that, Nepal had won the tournament (then called the ACC U-16 Eastern Region) in 2017 and 2019.
With this win, Nepal remains undefeated in the entire tournament, underscoring its growing strength in regional youth cricket.