Kathmandu, October 23:

Nepal have drawn mighty Australia, Sri Lanka and Namibia in the Group C for the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup to be held in Malaysia in February next year.

Nepal, who won the plate championship in 2006 and reached the finals in 2002, will open with a match against Sri Lanka on February 18, before taking on Australia the next day. Nepal will play Namibia on February 21.

Pakistan, Zimbabwe, New Zealand and Malaysia are in Group A, while Group B consists of India, West Indies, South Africa and PNG. England, Bangladesh, Bermuda and Ireland are in Group D. After the first round, the top two teams each from all the four pools will qualify for the Super League, while the bottom two will play the Plate Championship.

This is the fifth time Nepal are participating in the Under-19 World Cup. Nepal qualified for the Under-19 World Cup as the winners of the U-19 Asia Cup four times in a row from 2001-2007, while Nepal participated in the 2000 World Cup as the runners-up to Bangladesh. Nepal have left their mark in the Under-19 level with wins over South Africa, Pakistan, Bangladesh, New Zealand and Kenya.