Kathmandu, July 19

Nepali youth team will take on Afghanistan in their third match of the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers for Asia Region at the Singapore Cricket Club in Padang on Thursday.

Both the teams are unbeaten so far in the four-nation competition being played under double round robin format.

Top team in the points table will earn berth in the ICC U-19 World Cup to be hosted by New Zealand next year.

Nepal defeated hosts Singapore by four wickets in their first match on Monday and beat Malaysia by five wickets on Tuesday, while one of the favourites Afghanistan thrashed Malaysia by eight wickets in the opening match and saw off Singapore by seven wickets to record second consecutive victory.

With two consecutive victories, both Nepal, with the net run rate +3.739, and Afghanistan, who have net run rate +5.035, accumulated four points each but the latter are leading the table on superior net run rate.

Although, Nepal and Afghanistan will be facing each other for the first time in the ongoing event, they have played seven matches previously. Afghanistan have slight edge with four victories, while Nepal have three wins.

Last time Nepal defeated Afghanistan in the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers in 2011 held in Ireland but faced defeats in previous two matches — ACC U-19 Premier League in 2014 in Kuwait and ACC U-19 Premier League held in Malaysia in 2015.

Nevertheless, Nepali team head coach Binod Das, after winning the match against Malaysia on Tuesday, had told that he was not worried about the match against Afghanistan as his side possessed good bowling attack and a great fielding side.