Nepal entered the semifinals of the ACC Trophy Elite 2010 as Oman’s beating of Kuwait ended the hosts’ chances at Unity, Kuwait.
Nepal has three wins with a game in hands against Kuwait on April 6, who has won only one. Oman and Hong Kong, with two wins each, are playing on same day to determine another team to qualify from the group.
This is third consecutive time that Nepal has qualified to semifinals of the Asia’s biggest event for non-Test playing nations. Nepal missed out semifinals in 2004 while it reached the final in 2002.
Nepal’s three wins came against defending champions Hong Kong (by 118 runs), Oman (by six wickets) and Singapore (by seven wickets).
Singapore lost all four matches and is relegated to ACC Trophy Challenge.
From Group B, Afghanistan and UAE are atop the table with two wins each but Malaysia, who had a game against UAE, could turn tables for one of them on net run rate with a thumping win.
GYANENDRA MALLA TO JOIN
Vice-captain Gyanendra Malla will join the team on Monday as he was granted visa by Kuwait after rejecting it twice.
“We talked with the Asian Cricket Council and the hosts and they assured us that he could play the rest of the matches,” said Tarak Mani Dixit, the secretary of Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN).
Naresh Budhair had flown to Kuwait to replace Gyanendra but will not play.