Kathmandu, August 13 :

Nepal will take on Kuwait in the Group C match of the ACC Trophy in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, hoping to earn an opportunity to qualify for the 2011 World Cup.

Nepal qualifies for the WC Qualifying Series Division II if it wins the ACC Trophy or finishes third provided Oman and UAE — already qualified — reach the final.

Nepal is drawn in the Group C along with Bhutan, Myanmar, Hong Kong, and Kuwait.

Nepal has never lost against Kuwait. The two teams did not meet in the last edition where Nepal made an early exit losing to Qatar in quarter-finals.

In their last encounter in the 2007 World Cup Qualifying Series Division II in 2005 in Malaysia, Nepal defeated Kuwait by five wickets. In the fourth ACC Trophy in Singapore in 2002, Nepal thumped Kuwait by 124 runs.

Nepal will play Hong Kong on August 16 before taking on Kuwait two days later and Myanmar on August 20. The quarter-finals will be held on August 23, while the semis are slated for August 24-25. The final will be held on August 27.

In the last edition, Nepal was ousted by Qatar dashing Nepal’s hopes of qualifying for the ICC Cup in Ireland, which sent five nations in 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.

SQUAD: Binod Das (captain), Shakti Gauchan (vice captain), Paresh Lohani, Dhirendra Chand, Mahesh Chhetry, Raj Kumar Pradhan, Sharad Vesawkar, Gyanendra Malla, Paras Khadka, Basanta Regmi, Akash Gupta, Manoj Baisya (wicketkeeper), Raju Basnyat, Mehboob Alam.