KATHMANDU: Raunak Srivastav scored a brilliant century as Nepal defeated Bhutan by a massive margin of 298 runs in the ACC Men’s U-16 East Zone Cup cricket tournament in Malaysia.

With this dominant win in Tuesday’s group-stage match, Nepal has secured a place in the semifinals of the tournament.

Batting first after winning the toss, Nepal posted a formidable total of 358 runs for the loss of five wickets in the allotted 50 overs. Chasing the target, Bhutan crumbled to just 60 runs in 32.4 overs. As their last batter did not come to the crease, Nepal was declared the winner by default.

For Bhutan, Sujan Dawa was the top scorer with 14 runs, while opener Uyog Chhophel managed only 10. No other Bhutanese batter reached double figures.

In bowling, Nepal captain Bipin Prasad Sharma took 4 wickets for just 7 runs in 10 overs. Sachin Bhatta and Suyog Bhattarai took two wickets each.

Raunak Srivastav led Nepal’s innings with a superb 168 off 132 balls, hitting 16 fours and 5 sixes. After losing two early wickets for 17 runs, Raunak and third batter Shiwansh Bajgain steadied the innings with a 91-run partnership. Shivansh scored 54 runs off 52 balls with 5 boundaries.

Raunak then shared a 72-run stand with Sugam Budhathoki for the fourth wicket. Sugam contributed 35 off 33 balls, including 4 boundaries. Raunak also added 170 runs for the fifth wicket with Joy Thapa, who remained unbeaten on 61 off 67 balls, hitting 7 fours.

Earlier, century-maker Prasiddha Jaisi was dismissed for 7, while Parimarjan Yadav was out for 2. Bhutan’s Sanjay Dorji took 3 wickets.

With four straight wins in Group A, Nepal finished at the top of the group and advanced to the semifinals with a perfect record. In contrast, Bhutan lost all four group-stage matches and has been eliminated from the tournament.

The ACC-organized competition features Nepal, Singapore, Indonesia, Bhutan, and Japan in Group A. Group B includes Malaysia, Hong Kong, Maldives, Thailand, and Myanmar.