FATULLAH: A day after being stunned by West Indies in the Super League quarter-final of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, Pakistan rode a brilliant all-round from Hasan Mohsin to crush Nepal by 122 runs in the fifth-place playoff semi-final at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah on Tuesday.

Hasan, a likeable character who speaks fluently, bats attractively and bowls intelligently, stood out with a 106-ball innings 117 and bowling figures of 4-42.

After Pakistan lost the toss and made 258-8, Nepal were bowled out for 136 in 43.5 overs.

Pakistan started on a shaky note, Aarif Sheikh’s twin strikes reducing them to 3-2 in 4.3 overs. Soon, that became 30-3 before Saif Badar found the perfect ally in Hasan.

The duo put on 189 for the fourth wicket in 31.1 overs before Saif fell to leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane in the 45th over. Saif’s patient 88 came off 118 deliveries with six fours and a six.

Lamichhane, the only bowler with a hat-trick in this edition of the World Cup, struck twice more. He had Hasan caught by Dipendra Airee in his next over for a sparkling knock that contained eight fours and three sixes. Two balls later, Lamichhane accounted for Salman Fayyaz, who had been involved in the highest sixth-wicket partnership in the history of Under-19 One-day Internationals with Umair Masood in Monday’s defeat against West Indies.

Pakistan added 20 runs after Salman’s dismissal, but already had enough on the board.

Nepal lost five wickets in the first 1- overs for 29 and never recovered from thereon.

Apart from Hasan’s four-wicket burst, fellow seamers Irfan Liaquat and Saif Ali picked up two wickets each to put a swift end to the game.

While Pakistan will take on the winners of the England-Namibia game to decide the fifth place, Nepal will play the losers of that match to decide the seventh-placed team.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN:

Mohammad Umar c Sunar b Aarif 0 Gohar Hafeez c Dhamala b Aarif 0 Saif Badar c Bhurtel b Lamichhane 88 M. Hassaan Khan c Aarif b Airee 13 Hasan Mohsin c Airee b Lamichhane 117 Salman Fayyaz c Dhamala b Lamichhane 14 Umair Masood c Kandel b Airee 14 Shadab Khan c Bhurtel b Kandel 6 Irfan Liaquat not out 1 Saif Ali not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-3, NB-1) 5

TOTAL (for eight wkts, 50 overs) 258

FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-3, 3-30, 4-219, 5-237, 6-238, 7-255, 8-257.

DID NOT BAT: Arsal Sheikh.

BOWLING: Aarif Sheikh 10-1-22-2; Bhurtel 8-1-53-0 (2w); Airee 8-1-44-2 (1nb); Kandel 9-0-57-1 (1w); Lamichhane 10-0-53-3; Tamang 3-0-18-0; Dhamala 2-0-10-0.

NEPAL:

S. Dhamala c Umair b Hasan 7 S. Sunar c sub b Irfan 4 Y.S. Karki c Umair b Hasan 5 R. Rijal c Gohar b Saif Ali 15 Aarif Sheikh c Gohar b Hasan 1 H. Dutta c Umair b Hasan 0 D.S. Airee c Umair b Irfan 8 P. Tamang not out 65 K. Bhurtel lbw b Saif Ali 0 S. Kandel c Hasan b Salman 10 S. Lamichhane run out 0

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-16, NB-2) 21

TOTAL (all out, 43.5 overs) 136

FALL OF WKTS: 1-8, 2-17, 3-23, 4-29, 5-29, 6-46, 7-54, 8-67, 9-111.

BOWLING: Irfan Liaquat 10-1-32-2 (1nb, 2w); Hasan Mohsin 10-0-42-4 (8w); Saif Ali 6-3-9-2 (1nb, 2w); Arsal Sheikh 6.5-5-8-0; Shadab Khan 4-0-15-0 (2w); Salman Fayyaz 5-2-13-1 (1w); Mohammad Hassaan Khan 2-0-16-0.

RESULT: Pakistan won by 122 runs.

UMPIRES: R.J. Bailey (England) and R.T. Robinson (England).

TV UMPIRE: C. Shamshuddin (India).

MATCH REFEREE: G.F. Labrooy (Sri Lanka).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Hasan Mohsin.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2016