Nepal Win ACC U16 East Zone Cup After Final Thriller vs Singapore

Nepal’s young cricketing guns did it again — and they did it in style. In a nail-biting finish, Nepal defeated Singapore by 2 wickets to lift the ACC Men’s U16 East Zone Cup 2025 title at YSD UKM Oval, Bangi.

With this, Nepal now hold four U16 regional titles (2017, 2019, 2023, and 2025). And yes — they went unbeaten the entire tournament.

Singapore Crumble Under Pressure

Singapore won the toss and batted first, but things never quite clicked. They were all out for just 113 runs in 40.5 overs. Austin Arun tried to hold things together with 23 runs, and Riaan Naik added 15, but that was about it.

Nepal’s bowlers kept it tight. Abhay Yadav and Sushil Rawal both took 3 wickets, Shubham Khanal bagged 2, and Bipin Sharma chipped in with 1.

Chaos, Collapse, and Comeback

Chasing a small target? Easy, right? Not for Nepal. From a steady 39/1, they suddenly collapsed to 58/5, and Singapore had their hopes up.

Enter: Joy Thapa and Shubham Khanal. Their 33-run stand brought Nepal back from the edge. Shubham fell for 18, and the scoreboard read 92/8 — 22 runs still needed.

Joy kept calm. Abhay Yadav joined him at the crease, and together they finished the job. Yadav smashed the winning boundary and remained unbeaten on 10. Joy stood tall with a match-winning 24 not out, guiding Nepal to 117/8 in 29 overs.

Key Contributions

Earlier in the innings, Shiwansh Bajgain fired a quick 20, and Prasiddha Jaisi added 17. For Singapore, Kapish Venkatraman was the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets, and Yuvan Pandey took 2.

Nepal’s Dominant Run

Nepal weren’t just champions — they were dominant. In the group stage, they beat Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, and Bhutan, then knocked out Malaysia in the semifinal. The final was their only real test — and they passed it under pressure.

With a perfect campaign and another trophy in the cabinet, Nepal’s U16 squad have made one thing clear: the future of Nepali cricket is in very good hands.