Nepal entered the final with a hundred per cent winning records in the league before seeing off Malaysia in the semi-finals. But in Afghanistan they face a tough opponents considering the nation’s recent rise in the game.

While Nepal’s best showing in the senior level was in 2002 when they reached the final of the same event, Afghanistan is a team who have already acquired an ODI status apart from being qualified for the World Twenty20 Championships. Their strenght can also be assessed by the fact that they currently are in the World Cricket League (WCL) Division-I while Nepal were only recently promoted to WCL Division-IV.

However, Afghanistan have exposed their weakness in their Group B matches especially against Malaysia — the team Nepal beat in the semi-finals. Their batting and bowling abilities were put to test as they managed 236 runs before dissmissing Malaysia for 235 to record a thrilling one-run victory. If Nepal can expliot their weakness, they can fancy their chances against the formidable opponents.

Nepal can also count on their batsmen to score big total considering the consistent performance from openers Anil Mandal and Mahesh Chhettri along with Shakti Gauchan. Both Anil and Mahesh have already scored two big half centuries while Sharad Vesawkar’s unbeaten 97, that set up their semi-final win, have further boosted the team’s morale going into the championship tie.

Nepal hardly needed the services of skipper Paras Khadka and hard-hitting batsman Mehboob Alam but they could come in handy given the context of the game. Vice-captain Gyanendra Malla’s joining the team has also strengthen their batting lineup. As usual bowling and fielding has been the major weapon for the Nepali team and with batting looking solid so far, coach Roy Luke Dias would be dreaming to come up with an upset and clinch the first ever senior level ACC silverware.