SHARJAH: Skipper Paras Khadka and vice captain Gyanendra Malla batted brilliantly as Nepal registered a seven-wicket victory against Bahrain here at the Al Dahid Cricket Village grounds today.

Electing to bat first, Bahrain scored 157-8 in 20 overs, thanks to a couple of dropped catches and Nepal overcame the target in 18 overs losing three wickets. Oman topped the group with five wins, while Kuwait, Nepal and Malaysia were locked at six points each. Kuwait (1.45) made it to the last four on better run rate, while Nepal (-0.02) finished third ahead of Malaysia (-0.09). From Group A, Afghanistan and hosts UAE advance to the semi-finals. Nepal will play Singapore, who finished third in Group A, for the fifth and sixth place playoff at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

Nepal started their run chase shakily losing opener Mehboob Alam for a duck. The other opener Dipendra Chaudhary and Binod Bhandari took the score to 41 before the latter was holed out at mid on in the eighth over. Dipendra (43) and Gyanendra Malla then added 24 more runs for the third wicket. Dipendra was caught behind with the team total of 65 runs in 10.3 overs. Dipendra hit four fours in his 36-ball knock.

Nepal needed 9.5 runs per over after the completion of 10 overs but skipper Paras and Gyanendra overcame the target with two overs to spare. The duo shared an unbroken stand of 94 runs for the fourth wicket in 45 balls. Paras hit five fours and a six in his unbeaten 47 off 30 balls. Gyanendra struck five four in his 29-ball 48.

Earlier, Alam took two wickets in two balls and Binod Das claimed one to reduce Bahrain to 16-3 in three overs. Bahrain, despite losing three early wickets, were in no mood to slow it down and scored 39 runs in the six-over power play. In the seventh over, Paras dropped Imran Nasir off Basanta Regmi and the batsman went on to score 44 runs.

Sanjam Regmi also fail to grab an easy return catch of Haroon Naseer. Nepal paid heavily for the mistake as Haroon went on to top score with 53 off 36 balls. Binod Das returned with 3-28, while Alam took 2-12. Paras and Sanjam claimed one wicket apiece.

Nepal’s coach Roy Luke Dias said he was disappointed with the bowlers, especially the spinners. “They were not up to their mark and the fielders dropped a couple of crucial catches which allowed the opponent batsmen to capitalise on the chances,” said Dias.

Asked about Paras and Gyanendra’s innings, Dias said the batsmen batted well and they could score runs as they played normal cricket. “These guys are not used to slogging and today the selection of shots was good,” he added. “The win came at the wrong stage,” he added.

Nepal rested Paresh Lohani for the match because of stomach problem and brought in Naresh Budhayer, who became the second player to make the national team debut in the current tournament after Binod Bhandari. Amrit Bhattarai and Sharad Vesawkar were the other players who did not feature in the match.

Asked about Sunday’s match against Singapore, Dias said he would go with the same team. “I can not drop Bhandari and cannot take in Amrit as the Sharjah pitch which does not suit medium pacers,” he said.