Kathmandu: Defending champions Nepal kicked off their ACC Men’s U-16 East Zone Cup campaign with a six-wicket win over Singapore on Sunday in their opening match held at the YSD UKM Oval in Bangi, Malaysia.

Opting to bat first in the 50-over format, Singapore were bowled out for 138 runs in 36.1 overs. Nepal comfortably chased down the target, reaching 139-4 in 33.4 overs, thanks to an unbeaten half-century from Prashiddha Jaisi.

The player-of-the-match Prashiddha anchored the innings with an unbeaten 55 off 97 balls, laced with five boundaries. He forged a 63-run partnership for the third wicket with Raunak Srivastav, who played a brisk knock of 40 from 44 deliveries, hitting five fours and a six before being caught by Aahan Vuthandam off Akash Teja.

Shubham Khanal remained unbeaten on 9 while opener Suryanshu Koirala retired hurt after scoring 9 runs.

Singapore’s Akash was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with 3 wickets for 36 runs in his 10-over spell.

Earlier, Singapore captain Riaan Naik top-scored with a fluent 53 off 53 balls before being caught by Prashiddha off Sachin Bhatta. Opener Aahan Vuthandam contributed a quick 38 off 33 while Rohan Austin Aru (11) and Pranad Eshaan were the only other batters to reach double digits.

Nepal’s bowling unit delivered a clinical performance led by Bipin Sharma. He returned with an impressive figure of 10-1-34-4. Sachin Bhatta also starred with the ball, claiming 3-18 in 6.1 overs, including two maidens.

In other matches of the tournament, Japan registered a thumping 215-run win over Bhutan, while Hong Kong defeated hosts Malaysia by 88 runs.

Nepal will next face Japan in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.