18 August, KATHMANDU: Nepal tried hard to win Afghanistan but it disappointed the fans by  losing their ACC Emerging Teams Cup Group ‘A’ match against Afghanistan by three runs at the Singapore Cricket Club grounds yesterday.

Nepal were perfectly placed at 131-3 while chasing a revised target of 161 in 46 overs but the batsmen ran out of patience before being dismissed for 157 45.3 overs. Nepali spinners earlier contained a strong Afghan batting line-up restricting them to 169-9 in 50 overs.

Nepal will now play India U-23 at the same venue on Tuesday.

Meanwhile in a Group ‘B’ match, Bangladesh U-23 thrashed hosts Singapore by eight wickets. Noor Hossain took 4-25 to bundle out Singapore for just 121 runs in 47.1 overs. Soumya Sarkar (65 not out) and Mithun Ali (43) eased the chase as the Bangladeshi team reached 122-2 in 26.4 overs.