Nepal won the ACC Men’s U-16 East Zone Cup, defeating Singapore by two wickets in the final held at the YSD-UKM Cricket Oval in Bangi, Malaysia, on Saturday, July 5.

The young Rhinos chased the target of 114 runs in 29 overs, losing eight wickets.

Joy Thapa anchored Nepal’s innings with an unbeaten 24 runs to guide the team to victory. Shiwansh Bajgai contributed 20 runs, while Shubham Khanal added 18, and Prashiddha Jaishi scored 17. Parimarjan Yadav and Abhay Yadav chipped in with 13 and 10 runs, respectively.

Kapish Venkatraman was the pick of the bowlers for Singapore, claiming four wickets. Yuvaan Pandey took two, while Vedansh Gupta and Akash Teja shared one wicket each.

Earlier, Singapore chose to bat first after winning the toss but were bowled out for 113 runs in 40.5 overs. Abhay Yadav and Sushil Rawal each took three wickets, while Shubham Khanal bagged two, and captain Bipin Sharma claimed one.

Abhay Yadav was named Player of the Match, while Nepali all-rounder Raunak Shrivastav was awarded Player of the Tournament.

For Singapore, Rohan Austin Arun top-scored with 23 runs. Captain Riaan Naik made 15, Vedansh Gupta 12, and Akash Teja 10. No other batter could score in double digits.

Nepal reached the final by defeating the host Malaysia in the semi-final, while Singapore advanced after beating Hong Kong.

Nepal remained unbeaten throughout the tournament, with group stage wins against Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, and Bhutan.