KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 14

Nepal faced a 16-run defeat at the hands of Ireland in the third and final match of the Quadrangular T20I Series at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground in Muscat today.

Batting first, Ireland were dismissed for 127 runs in the last ball of their innings before Nepal managed 111-9. The United Arab Emirates finished first on better net run rate after being tied on four points with Ireland. Oman and Nepal earned two points each with the hosts ahead on NRR.

Nepal had began the campaign on a high with a six-wicket win over Oman but the team lost momentum in the next two matches, especially against Ireland as the team surrendered meekly after the bowlers had done a great job of dismissing Ireland to a low total.

The batters not only failed to build partnerships but they also could not stay for long at the crease, which might be a headache for head coach Pubudu Dassanayake ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup Global Qualifiers, slated for December 18-24, also in Muscat.

Only four batsmen scored in double digits with Dipendra Singh Airee standing tall at 28. Openers Aasif Sheikh (23) and Kushal Bhurtel (15) along with Kamal Airee (13) were able to reach double figures but none of them could convert their knocks into big ones. Mark Adair, Simi Singh, Barry McCarthy and Andy McBrine took two wickets each for Ireland, while Curtis Campher grabbed one.

Earlier, George Dockrell top scored for Ireland with 22-ball 28, while Campher (20) was the next best batter. Player-of-the-match Dipendra Singh Airee was the pick of the Nepali bowlers taking 4-21, while Abibash Bohara bagged two.

Skipper Sandeep Lamichhane, Jitendra Mukhiya and Kamal Singh Airee claimed one each. Lamichhane became the first Nepali cricketer to reach 50-wicket mark in T20Is when he had Dockrell caught by Kushal Bhurtel.

In the Global Qualifiers, Nepal are drawn in Group A along with Canada, Oman and the Philippines, while Bahrain, Germany, Ireland and UAE are in Group B.

Top two teams from both groups will make it to the semis, while two finalists will earn tickets to Australia for World Cup. Nepal will begin the campaign with a match against hosts Oman on February 18 before taking on the Philippines the next day. Nepal will then face Canada in the third and final match of the league round on February 21.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 15, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.