Kathmandu, March 14

Nepal will play against Papua New Guinea in the playoff match of the ICC World Cup Qualifiers at the Old Hararians in Harare, Zimbabwe on Thursday.

The match will be crucial for both the teams as the winning side will move a step closer to the One Day International status for the next four years.

Whoever wins the match will seal the ODI status if the Netherlands beat Hong Kong in another playoff match on the same day. If Nepal beat PNG and Hong Kong register victory over the Netherlands, the two winning teams will fight for seventh place and the ODI status. The two losing sides will then play for the ninth position.

Nepal, PNG and Hong Kong are fighting for the one last remaining slot after the United Arab Emirates and Scotland advanced to the Super Six stage along with the ODI status. Out of the four berths available for the Associate members, the Netherlands had confirmed one as the ICC World League Championship winners.

In the group stage, Nepal finished fourth in Group B after beating Hong Kong by five wickets in their last match.

In the previous three matches, Nepal suffered a 116-run defeat against hosts Zimbabwe, went down to Scotland by four wickets and faced a six-wicket loss at the hands of Afghanistan.

On the other hand, PNG lost all four matches in Group A and finished fifth in the standing. PNG suffered a 56-run defeat against the UAE, went down to Ireland by four wickets, faced a six-wicket loss against the West Indies before going down to the Netherlands by 57 runs.