Kathmandu. KATHMANDU: Nepal has clinched the ICC T20 World Cup Asia and East Asia Pacific Qualifiers in Oman on Friday.
Nepal won the title by remaining undefeated in all the matches from group stage to super-six. In the last match played on Friday, the national team defeated Samoa by 124 runs to win the tournament.
Asif Shesh and vice-captain Dipendra Singh Airee chased down a target of 211 runs. In reply, Samoa were restricted to 87 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in 20 overs. Sean Solia was the top scorer for Samoa with 40 runs.
Lalit Rajbanshi took 3 wickets for Nepal, Sandeep Lamichhane and Rohit Paudel took 11 wickets.
Asif Sesh and vice-captain Dipendra Singh Airee scored 211 runs in 20 overs at the loss of 4 wickets. Asif scored 69 runs off 41 balls with 7 fours and 4 sixes. Dipendra scored 53 runs with 4 sixes and 2 fours.
Lokesh Bam scored 39 runs off 11 balls while skipper Rohit Paudel made an unbeaten 21 runs. Kushal Bhurtel scored 17 runs.
Daniel Burgess, Saumani Tai, Darius Visser and Noah Mead took 1 wicket each for Samoa.
Nepal had defeated Kuwait and Japan in the group stage. In the first match of the Super Six, Nepal defeated the UAE by 1 run.
Likewise, Nepal defeated Qatar by 5 runs in the second match of the tournament to qualify for the T20 World Cup. In the third match, Nepal defeated Oman by 38 runs. With this win, he became the sole contender for the Qualifier Cup.
After 11 years, ICC title:
This is the first time Nepal has won the title of the ICC Cricket World Cup after 11 years. In the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers, Nepal was defeated by Oman in the Super Over in the last match. Nepal had not won the ICC qualifiers since 2014.
Nepal, UAE and Oman, who were selected on the basis of points from the tournament, have ensured their participation in the T20 World Cup to be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka in 2026.
Coach Li and Captain Poudel’s Success:
Coach Stuart Lee played a crucial role in the selection and coaching of the Nepali team. Rohit Paudel, the captain of the national team, fielded the players with a very smart strategy. He took the decision to give command to a confident batsman like Gulshan Jha and to bowl in the last overs with vice-captain Dipendra and bowler Sandeep in the last over. However, he took the risk by giving chances to Mohammad Adil Alam, who returned to the field after a long gap, and Kushal Malla, who lost his rhythm in batting.
