Kathmandu: Defending champions Nepal stormed into the semifinal as group winners with a percent winning record defeating Bhutan by 258 runs in their final group-stage match of the ACC Men’s U-16 East Zone Cup at the Selangor Turf Club in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

Electing to bat first, Nepal posted a mammoth total of 358-5, thanks to a scintillating century by Raunak Srivastav, along with two half-centuries. With the ball, captain Bipin Sharma returned with an impressive haul of four wickets to bowl out Bhutan for 60 runs.

With the win, Nepal finished on top of Group ‘A’ with a maximum of eight points from four games, qualifying for the semifinal as table-toppers. Singapore also advanced from the group as runners-up. Nepal will face Group B runners-up Malaysia in the last four, while Singapore will take on Hong Kong on Thursday.

After losing openers Parimarjan Yadav and Prashiddha Jaishi cheaply, Raunak steadied the innings, smashing 168 off 132 balls, studded with 16 boundaries and 5 sixes, before he was dismissed on the fourth ball of the final over.

Joy Thapa (unbeaten on 61 off 67 balls) and Shiwansh Bajgain (54 off 52) also made valuable contributions. Player of the Match Raunak and Joy shared a 170-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Raunak also added 91 runs for the third wicket with Shiwansh. Sugam Budathoki contributed 35 off 33 balls, while Sachin Bhatta remained unbeaten on eight.

Bhutan’s Sangay Dorji claimed three wickets in his 10-over spell, giving away 70 runs.

Nepal put Bhutan’s batters under pressure from the start of the innings and claimed wickets at regular intervals. Bhutan openers Ugyen Kelzang Chophel (10) and Tshezang Dawa (14) were the only players to reach double-digit figures.

Nepal captain Bipin impressed with the ball, claiming 4-7 in his 10-over spell, which included six maiden overs. Sachin Bhatta and Suyog Bhattarai took two wickets each.