Kathmandu, March 2

Nepal youth team earned qualification for the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup to be held next year in Sri Lanka.

Nepal defeated United Arab Emirates by seven runs to finish first in the U-19 Men's Cricket World Cup Asia Qualifier at the Eden Garden Oval in Ajman. With both teams recording four wins each in the six-team competition, the match was decisive. Nepal prevailed to return to the youth World Cup after eight years.

Invited to bat first, Nepal were bowled out for below-par 191 runs in 48.5 overs before packing the home team for 184 runs with 12 balls to spare, thanks to the five-wicket haul, including a hat-trick from Dipesh Kandel.

Nepal will be making their first appearance in the U-19 World Cup since the 2016 edition held in Bangladesh. Nepal played in five consecutive World Cups from 2000 to 2008 and returned to the competition in 2012. The seven-run victory against the UAE was sweet revenge for Nepal as they had faced a one-run defeat under D/L method in the 2019 qualifiers. That defeat also cost Nepal a berth in the 2022 edition as they fell behind the UAE in the assessment of the last five qualifiers after the ICC could not organise the qualifying tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nepal had a disastrous start with the bat. They lost opener Deepak Bohara for a duck in the first ball before Arjun Kumal (three) and Aakash Tripathi (nine) followed soon with just 19 runs on the board. Skipper Dev Khanal and Uttam Rangu Thapa Magar revived the innings with an 84- run partnership for the fourth wicket.

Nepal crawled to the 150- run mark in 37 overs, but the batters faltered and lost the last five wickets for a paltry 38 runs. Skipper Khanal top scored with 51 off 84 balls that included three boundaries and a six, while Thapa Magar struck three fours and a six in his 48-ball 36. Bishal Bikram KC shared an important 38- run partnership with Milan Bohara (15) for the sixth wicket and scored 38 off 50 balls with the help of five boundaries. Dipesh Kandel (15) and Hemant Dangi (13) also contributed in double figures.

Dhruv Parashar was the pick of the UAE bowlers taking 3-18, while Harit Harish Shetty (2-35) and skipper Aayan Afzal Khan (2-34) shared four wickets. Harshit Seth and Ammar Badami also grabbed a wicket each.

In reply, UAE openers Aryan Saxena and Aryansh Sharma made a flying start putting up 67 runs in 17 overs before Nepal finally made a breakthrough after Kandel had Saxena caught by substitute Dipak Prasad in the second ball of the 18th over. Saxena scored 34 off 65 balls hitting five boundaries.

Subash Bhandari then struck twice dismissing Sharma, who scored 34-ball 32 with four boundaries, and skipper Aayan Afzal Khan (naught) in the space of one run to reduce the hosts to 72- 3. Dhruv Parashar and Ethan Carl D'Souza added 42 runs for the fourth wicket to take the match away from Nepal, while D'Souza and Ammar Badami shared a 39-run partnership for the fifth wicket to take the team closer to victory.

The hosts were cruising towards victory needing just seven runs from the last 15 balls with three wickets in hand. But Nepal's Dipesh Kandel produced the moment of brilliance and turned the tide completely. He took three wickets in as many balls in the 48th over to seal Nepal's victory. He bowled Harshit Seth (four) in the fourth ball and had Harit Harish Shetty caught by skipper Khanal in the next delivery. Kandel completed the hat-trick and five-wicket haul when he bowled Monish Gajesh in the last ball of the over.

Player-of-the-match Kandel returned with figures of 5-31 from 10 overs, while Hemant Dhami (2-34) and Subash Bhandari (2-39).

Nepal head coach Jagat Tamatta lauded his boys' efforts.

'It felt as though we were 20 runs short when we finished our innings, but we clawed this back thanks to our excellent bowling and fielding,' Tamatta told the ICC.

A version of this article appears in the print on March 3, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.