Nepal secured its berth to the ICC World Twenty20 Asia Finals after confirming a top-three finish at the ICC World T20 Asia Qualifier ‘B’ in Malaysia on October 9 with a 117-run victory over Bhutan.
Alongside Nepal, Singapore also claimed a fourth win and a berth in the Finals with an eight-wicket victory over Thailand in Klang. Both teams have eight points with Nepal top of the standings on a better net run-rate. The two teams cannot finish lower than second as they are three points ahead of Malaysia and Thailand, who each have just one game remaining.
Nepal bowled Bhutan out for 33 runs in 16.4 overs after scoring 150 for the loss of four wickets in 20 overs at the UKM Oval. Sandeep Lamichhane and Lalit Rajbanshi shared the bowling honours with three wickets each as four Bhutan batsmen failed to score.
Earlier, Pradeep Airee paced Nepal with 75 runs for the highest score of the tournament after blasting six fours and two sixes off 68 balls. Pradeep, named Player of the Match, was supported by Anil Kumar Shah (27) as they put on 66 runs for the second wicket.
Brief scores: Nepal 150/4 in 20 overs (Pradeep Airee 75*, Anil Sah 27, DS Airee 15, Aasif Sheik 13, Karan KC 11*) beat Bhutan 33 all out in 16.4 overs (Tenzin Wangchuk jnr 11, LN Rajbanshi 3/4, Sandeep Lamichhane 3/6, Basant Regmi 2/7, DS Airee 1/13, Sharad Vesawkar 1/0) by 117 runs.