Kathmandu, October 12

Nepal won the title of the ICC World Twenty20 Asia Region Qualifier B tournament title at the Bayuemas Oval in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia today.

The last match between Nepal and Singapore ended in a no result due to rain and the two teams earned one point each. Nepal won the trophy in superior net run rate after they were tied on 11 points with Singapore. Nepal had the net run rate of +7.782, while Singapore had +4.772.

Malaysia finished third, also on better run rate, after being tied on seven points with Thailand. The top three teams earned berths in the regional finals. They will join 22 others from different qualifiers in five regions — three groups each in Africa and Europe and two apiece in Americas, Asia, East Asia Pacific.

The 25 teams from these qualifiers will contest in five regional finals in 2019, with eight teams going on to compete in the 2020 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, along with the six lowest ranked sides from the ICC T20I Championship.

Nepal skipper Paras Khadka won the toss and invited Singapore to take the first strike. Nepali bowlers backed their captain’s call and bowled Singapore out for 81 runs in 17.3 overs. In reply, Nepal were 1-1 in 0.3 overs before the rain stopped play. No further play was possible and the teams shared points.

Nepal’s Sandeep Lamichhane took 4-16 from 3.3 overs, while Sompal Kami and Karan KC grabbed two wickets each. Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi and Basant Regmi pocketed one wicket apiece. Lamichhane was the highest wicket taker in the tournament with a tally of 24 with the best figures of 5/8 against Thailand. He conceded a total of 57 runs in 20.3 overs in six matches.

Lamichhane also became the most successful bowler in Nepal’s cricket history eclipsing the previous record of 21 wickets in a tournament by Basant Regmi. Lamichhane also holds the U-19 level record with 23 wickets in a tournament. Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi is a distant second in highest wicket taker’s list of the tournament with 11 scalps and was tied with Singapore’s Manpreet Singh. Basant Regmi and Karan KC claimed six wickets each.

Surendran Chandramohan top scored for Singapore with 25 off 32 balls hitting a four, while Manpreet Singh and Sidhant — who scored 10 runs each — were the other two batsmen who reached double figures.