Cricket: Nepal stuns NZ under-19s

New Zealand suffered the indignity of losing to international lightweights Nepal in the plate final at the under-19 cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka yesterday.

Nepal, who recorded a shock win over South Africa in a semifinal 24 hours earlier, inflicted a second deep wound to the pride of the established cricketing nations by beating New Zealand by one wicket with two balls to spare in Colombo.

The match appeared in New Zealand's grasp as Nepal slumped to 75 for six chasing 205 for victory before man-of-the-match Basanta Regmi scored 66 and Prem Chaudhary 26.

These two put on 70 for the seventh wicket before Ratan Rauniyar, who contributed 26 not out and tailender Raj Shrestha, with three not out, held their nerve as Rauniyar hit the winning runs with two balls to spare.

New Zealand, who had earlier lost in the group stage to Bangladesh and were relegated to the second tier plate section, were heavily indebted to opener Todd Astle for posting a reasonable score at P Saravanamuttu Stadium.

Astle made a 66 from 86 balls in just over two hours as New Zealand were dismissed for 204, while Shaun Fitzgibbon made 29, Kieran Noema-Barnett 26 and Roneel Hira 26.

New Zealand coach Dipak Patel paid tribute to the Nepalese.

"We were in a good position but you have got to take your hat off to Nepal for not giving in," he said.

"They were very sensible in their approach to chasing a modest total and we showed inexperience at this level as we did not do the basics."

Captain Marc Ellison thought the New Zealanders were 20 to 30 runs short of what they required.

"... but we still thought we could defend it. In the end we did not win the crucial moments and it shows you cannot afford to relax, even for one ball."

The championship final later today was to feature India against Pakistan.

- NZPA