Nepal and Afghanistan favourites in ACC Elite U/19 Cup semi-finals

Defending champions Nepal, together with Afghanistan will start off as favourites to go through to the final of the ACC U/19 Elite Cup when they face Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) respectively in Kuala Lumpir, Malaysia on Monday.

The Elite Cup also serves as the Asia U/19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier for next year's ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup and the winner, or the runner-up in case Malaysia wins the tournament, will join Papua New Guinea (from the East Asia-Pacific Region), Ireland (from the Europe Region), Bermuda (from the Americas Region), the ICC's 10 Full Members and hosts Malaysia at the 16-team ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup to be played from 17 February to 2 March 2008.

Monday's matches see Nepal facing the hosts at the Bayuemas Oval while Afghanistan, one of the three Affiliates in the tournament along with Qatar and Oman, takes on the UAE at the Kinrare Oval.

In Group B, Afghanistan was the as the only unbeaten team after winning all its four games, including a four-wicket victory over Malaysia, a 40-run win against Qatar, a 17-run win against Hong Kong and a 54-run success against Kuwait. Malaysia beat Hong Kong by seven wickets, Kuwait by two wickets and Qatar by five wickets.

In Group A, Nepal won three of its four matches while its game against Thailand was rained off. Nepal beat the UAE by six wickets, Singapore by seven wickets and Oman by eight wickets. UAE won its matches against Thailand by 10 wickets, Oman by 96 runs and Singapore by four wickets.

The final of the Asia qualifier takes place on Wednesday.

Remaining matches:
27 August: Nepal v Malaysia at Bayuemas Oval, UAE v Afghanistan at Kinrara Oval (both semi-finals); Thailand v Kuwait at Club Amam (9/10 place play-off)
28 August: 3/4 place play-off at Selangor Turf Club; Singapore v Qatar at Bayuemas Oval (5/6 place play-off); Oman v Hong Kong at Club Amam (7/8 place play-off).

The ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup is a vital part of the ICC Development Program and provides a vehicle for the best young cricketers in the world to parade their skills.

Many of the future stars of the game experience their first true international exposure at this tournament and players such as Brian Lara, Michael Atherton, Yuvraj Singh, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Chris Cairns, Michael Clarke, Graeme Smith and Sanath Jayasuriya have used the event as a stepping stone to full international honours.

First staged in Australia in 1988, the tournament was initially organised on an occasional basis, but since the commencement of the ICC Development Program in 1997 it has become a biennial fixture.

The 2010 ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup will be held in Kenya while the 2012 tournament will be staged in Canada and UAE will host the 2014 edition.