KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 19

Kushal Bhurtel scored a magnificent century as Nepal defeated the Philippines by 136 runs to record their second straight victory in the ICC T20 World Cup Global Qualifiers at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground in Muscat today.

Batting first, Nepal posted 218-3 in their allotted 20 overs riding on an unbeaten century from Bhurtel and a brilliant half century from Dipendra Singh Airee before restricting Philippines to 82-8.

The second win put Nepal at the top of the table with four points and they will face Canada in the third and final group stage match on Monday.

Hosts Oman, who beat Canada by nine wickets in the day's other match, are at the third place on inferior run rate after being tied on two points with Canada. Philippines, who faced their second straight loss, are at the bottom of the four-team Group B and they are out of the race to the semi-finals.

With a net run rate of plus- 4.375, Nepal are most likely to make it to the last four regardless of the outcome of the last match against Canada.

After being sent in for the second straight match, Nepal made a poor start losing opener Aasif Sheikh (naught) with just nine runs on the board, while Kushal Malla - who was drafted in after experienced batsman Sharad Vesawkar was ruled out of the tournament due to an ankle injury - departed for 10-ball 12 that included two fours.

Opener Bhurtel and Dipendra Singh Airee then added 171 runs for the third wicket to put Nepal in strong position. Airee departed in the 19th over but not before scoring a career best 83 off just 47 balls hitting six fours and four sixes.

The pair shared the highest partnership for any wicket beating the previous best of 145 runs added by former skipper Paras Khadka and Aarif Sheikh against Singapore in 2019.

Player-of-the-match Bhurtel became the third Nepali batsman to score centuries in T20I when he reached the triple figures off 57 balls. He remained unbeaten on 104 off just 61 balls and his superb knock was laced with 13 boundaries and a six. Paras Khadka and Gyanendra Malla have scored centuries in T20I for Nepal, both in 2019. Lokesh Bam, who hit a six in the first ball he faced, remained unbeaten on six off three balls.

Daniel Smith, Miggy Podosky and Gurbhupinder Chohan took one wicket each for Philippines.

Bhurtel said he was waiting for the moment. 'I am very happy today as I was not able to score in the last couple of games,' said Bhurtel.

'Actually I was waiting for an innings like this. I believe it will help me in the upcoming match against Canada and semi-finals,' he added. 'We had already lost two wickets but it was trouble-free with Dipendra Singh Airee, who also carried the momentum. We feel comfortable with each other as we have played at U-19 level together and we are from the same team, Nepal Police Club,' added Bhurtel, who has now scored a century and four half centuries in 10 matches.

In reply, Philippines batsmen could not play freely in front of a disciplined Nepali bowling attack and they lost wickets at regular intervals after Jitendra Mukhiya struck in the third ball of the second over removing Kapil Kumar.

Only three Philippines batsmen could score in double figures with Jordan Alegra being the top scorer with 32-ball 27.

Skipper Sandeep Lamichhane was the pick of the Nepali bowlers leading from the front with the figures of 3-9 from four overs, while Gulsan Jha, Jitendra Mukhiya, Abinash Bohara, Kushal Malla and Dipendra Singh Airee grabbed one wicket each. Jha earned the national team debut in Twenty20 International from the match.

Nepal skipper Lamichhane lauded Bhurtel and Airee for their brilliant performance with the bat. 'It was a good win for us as it also helped us in getting a good run rate. It was amazing to watch Bhurtel and Airee playing such brilliant knocks. The team needed that boost as we were already two down and they played terrific knocks,' said Lamichhane.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 20, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.