KATHMANDU, March 4: Nepal has kept its hope of qualifying for the ICC ODI Cricket World Cup alive by defeating Papua New Guinea by three wickets under the ICC World CUP League-2 on Friday. 

Nepal achieved the target of 180 runs posted by Papua New Guinea in 48 overs, losing seven wickets while Sandeep Lamichhane contributed 35 runs. Kushal Malla scored 23 runs while Dipendra Singh Airi hit eight runs and Gyanendra Malla made six runs as Nepali batsmen struggled to score in the pitch of Dubai International Cricket Stadium. 

Opting to bat first after winning the toss, Papua New Guinea made 179 runs in 49.2 overs losing all wickets in the low-scoring match. 

Sompal Kami and Dipendra Singh Airi took two wickets apiece while Kushal Malla, Sandeep Lamichhane and Karan KC bagged one wicket each. 

With this victory, Nepal is in the sixth position with 14 wins from 31 games.

Nepal has 30 points with just five more matches remaining and is nine points behind third-placed Namibia. It means, Nepal still has mathematical chances of automatic qualification by the virtue of third-place finish provided that it wins all of the remaining five matches and must hope for another contender the UAE, who have played a match less, to lose points if it is to finish third.

If Nepal wins all of its remaining matches, it will get 40 points and qualify for the World Cup qualifiers if the UAE drops points. UAE is also in contention as it can finish ahead of Nepal with 43 points if it wins all of its remaining matches.

Runaway leader Scotland is top with an unassailable 50 points from 36 matches while second placed Oman has also cemented its position with 44 points from 36 matches.

The top three teams will qualify for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2022. The bottom four teams will drop into the Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-Off 2022.

 
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