Nepal secure U19 World Cup berth

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Mar. 3: A hat-trick of wickets from bowler Dipesh Kandel helped Nepal beat the UAE by seven runs and secure a place at the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup after eight years gap. 

The thrilling win against the hosts at Eden Garden Oval, Ajman, UAE on Thursday finished Nepal as the champions of the Asian Qualifiers. Nepali colts now have booked their tickets to Sri Lanka where the U19 World Cup will be held in 2024. 

Nepal played its maiden U19 World Cup in 2000. The last world cup Nepal competed in was in 2015.  

The Player of the match Dipesh Kandel confirmed Nepal’s qualification for World Cup after claiming the last three wickets of the adversary in three successive balls in a do-or-die battle.

The host UAE needed 11 runs in the last three overs. Kandel came with his last spell in the 48th over. He conceded three runs in his first three balls to send Nepal closer to defeat. Kandel, however, produced a magical spell in his remaining three balls by completing a hat trick of wickets which brought Nepal back from the jaws of defeat to the World Cup spot. 

Kandel finished with a fifer as Nepal packed up UAE to 184 runs in 48 overs.  Hemant Dhami and Subash Bhandari also grabbed two wickets each in Nepal’s comeback win.

Before this, Nepal defeated Malaysia by 10 wickets, thrashed Hong Kong by nine wickets, registered a comprehensive 243-run win over Kuwait by 243 runs and beat Singapore by 96 runs in the qualifiers. Nepal clinched the trophy of the qualifiers remaining unbeaten.

The home team made a good start against Nepal as opener Aryan Saxena (34) and Aryansh Sharma (32) made a brilliant partnership of 67 runs for the first wicket.  

Ethan Carl D’Souza scored the highest 50 runs for the UAE. Dhruv Parashar (17), Ammar Badami (19) and Maroof Merchant (12) were other two-digit scores for the UAE.  

Earlier, Nepal batted first to score 191 runs losing all wickets in 48.5 overs. Dev Khanal contributed with a half-century to lead Nepal’s Innings from 19/3. Nepal lost opening batters Deepak Bohara (0) and Arjun Kumal (3) and Aakash Tripathi (9) in 6.1 overs. 

Skipper Khanal took the control of Nepal’s innings after hitting 51 runs off 84 balls that included three fences and one maximum. 

Bishal Bikram KC added 38 runs off 50 balls and Uttam Rangu Thapa Magar hit 36 runs off 48 balls for Nepal.

Likewise, all-rounder Dipesh Kandel (15), Hemant Dhami (13) and Milan Bhara (10) were other contributors to Nepal.  

Dhruv Parashar alone claimed three wickets while Harit Harish Shetty and skipper Aayan Afzal Khan grabbed two wickets each for the host.

Speaking following the match, Nepal Head Coach, Jagat Bahadur Tamara, said, “It felt as though we were twenty runs short when we finished our innings, but we clawed this back thanks to our excellent bowling and fielding. 

“Today’s victory caps a hugely successful Qualifier for us. We have come up against a lot of talented cricketers during the past week, but for us to win having gone through the event undefeated highlights the wealth of talent we possess within this team.

“We worked incredibly hard in the build-up to the Qualifier to give ourselves the best possible chance of securing a place at the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2024, and we are excited by the prospect of coming up against the strongest teams and the best young players in the world in Sri Lanka next year.”