Nepal advances to World T20 Qualifiers

KATHMANDU, April 1: Pursuing its World Cup dream, Nepali cricket team has inched closer to the World T20 Cup 2014 to be held in Bangladesh after advancing to the World T20 Qualifiers to be held in the UAE in November, thanks to its semifinal qualification in the ACC T20 Cup on Sunday.

Nepal registered the biggest ever T20 victory in terms of run margin against Singapore at the TU Cricket Ground on Sunday to secure berth in the World Cup Qualifiers for the second time in a row.[break]

The top 16 associate members of International Cricket Council (ICC) will compete in the qualifiers. Of them, the top six teams will qualify for the World T20 Cup. Nepal had finished seventh in the last edition of the qualifiers.

Nepal elected to bat and put up a mammoth 210/5 in 20 overs as the middle-order batted brilliantly adding 133 runs in the last 10 overs.

The 210-run total is the biggest T20 score by Nepal so far. Nepal´s previous biggest total in T20 was the 183 runs scored against Saudi Arabia in the last edition of the tournament in 2011 in Kathmandu.

In reply, Singapore was all out for 89 runs in 15.1 overs as four Nepali spinners shared seven wickets to seal the 121-run victory.

Nepal´s previous biggest win in terms of runs was the 95-run victory over Saudi Arabia in 2011, while the team´s biggest win in terms of wickets is the nine-wicket victory over Singapore in 2009.

"It was a team effort and I´m happy, but we still have a long way to go," said Nepali captain Paras Khadka, who was adjudged the man-of-the-match for his 44 runs off 25 balls.

Following the win, Nepal reached the semifinals of the ACC T20 Cup as the runner-up of Group A, where Hong Kong is at the top of the table with four victories in the group stage. Hong Kong had defeated Nepal by six wickets in the group stage.

Nepal will take on the UAE in the semifinal on Tuesday while Hong Kong will lock horns with Afghanistan. UAE has topped Group B with four wins while Afghanistan is the runner-up with three victories.

Nepal and Hong Kong secured tickets to the World T20 Qualifiers as semifinalists. Afghanistan by virtue of its ODI status and the UAE as the host have already booked their berths in the qualifiers.