KATHMANDU: Nepal kept their hope alive of qualifying for U-19s World Cup in New Zealand next year by battering Malaysia by five wickets with more than 166 balls to spare in ICC Asia U-19s World Cup qualifier.

The game was played at the Indian Cricket Ground in Malaysia, today.

After winning the toss, Nepali skipper Sandeep Laminchhane invited Malaysia to bat first in 5th match of the campaign.

Earlier, Nepal had defeated Malaysia by same margin.

In today's play, Nepal restricted the Malaysia team for a paltry score of 89 runs in the 36th over of their allotted 50 overs game.

Tournament's highest wicket taker Sandeep Laminchanne rattled Malaysia batsman with 7 scalps with his unplayable googly and leg spins.

He was top of the Nepali bowlers with 9.1-1-13-7.

Shahab Alam took two wickets where as Rijjan Dhakal chipped in with a wicket.

Malaysian opening batsman Syed Aziz top scored with 46 runs of just 66 deliveries with 7 fours and a maximum. At one stage, Malaysia was reeling at 66-4 in the 21st over. As many as four Malaysian batsmen were out for golden duck.

In reply, Nepal's poor batting continued to falter as they chased down the meage total in 23rd over with the loss of five wickets. If Nepal are to secure their berth in U-19s World Cup in New Zealand next year, they need to challenge Afghanistan's better run rate in the tournament.

Opening batsmen played their part as they combined for 30 runs for the opening stand, however, after the fall of first wicket, Nepal were reeling at 40-4 in the 12th over.

Aadil Khan and Prakash KC trudged back to the pavilion without troubling the score with golden ducks.

Rohit Paudel top scored for Nepal with 34 runs of 37 deliveries with 6 fours in his aggressive innings. Dipendra Singh Airee, who hit first half century for the team played sensibly and took the team home with his 19 runs of 29 deliveries with a hit to the fence.

Virandeep Singh took 3 wickets and Hafizuddin chipped in with 2 wickets for the team.

Coach Binod Das need to resurrect batting display instead of resting on Nepal's bowling and fielding laurels.

Nepal's poor form with the bat have continued to falter, except Dipendra Singh Airee registering first half century for the team, other batsmen has failed to hit the height.

Despite the win, Nepal trail Afghanistan by two points and straggling run rate. If Nepal are to qualify for the World Cup they need to beat Afghanistan and bettered with better run rate.

Nepal will take on table topper Afghanistan in their crucial fixture tomorrow. Nepal must defeat the favorite with a better run rate to progress into the next round.

Sandeep Lamichanne was adjudged as man of the match for his match winning spin bowling. Lamichanne has bagged 23 wickets in five innings in the campaign.