Nepal came out victorious against Hongkong in the final of ACC U-19 Eastern Region Cricket Tournament on Sunday to win the title. Nepal defeated Hongkong by 5 wickets in the final at Kinrara Oval Cricket Ground, Kuala Lumpur.

Having lost the toss and invited to bat first, Hongkong could manage 76 runs in 32.1 overs. Sandeep Lamichhane and Shahab Alam picked up 3 wickets each for Nepal.Opening batsman Harpreet Singh (20) was the top scorer for Hongkong while Jhathavedh SS and Waqas Khan contributed 16 and 14 runs respectively.

Nepal chased down the target of 77 runs in 14.4 overs with 5 wickets in hand. Skipper Dipendra Singh Airee scored 22 runs while Pranit Thapa Magar remained unbetean on 19 runs. Karandip Singh picked up 3 wickets for Hongkong.

Sandeep Lamichhane was awarded Man of the Final as well as Man of the Series as he was the highest wicket taker in the tournament with 16 wickets in his name. Dipendra Singh Airee was 2nd on the list of wicket takers with 13 wickets while Pawan Sarraf finished on 4th number with 8 wickets.

Nepali team had already qualified fot the U19 Asia Cup by securing a place in the final of this tournament. Nepal U19 will now compete against five Asian Test playing nations includeing India, Pakistan, Srilanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan along with the host Malaysia.