Nepal notches spot in U-19 World Cup for the seventh time; PM congratulates team

Kathmandu / October 22: Nepal has secured a spot in the ICC U-19 World Cup with a three wicket victory over Ireland in the qualifying round on Thursday.

In the match played at Malaysian capital of Kuala Lampur, Ireland chose to bat first after winning the toss and posted 184 runs on the board in 47.4 overs.

Nepal’s opening batsmen Sunil Dhamala and Raju Rijal scored 47 and 35 runs respectively while Arif Sheikh made 21 runs and Deependra Singh Airi scored 26 runs.

Nepal’s Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi took four wickets while Arif Sheik and Deependra Airi took three and two wickets each to restrict Ireland.

Nepal with five consecutive wins under its belt will now compete in the ICC U-19 World Cup to be held in Bangladesh next year. Nepal has succeeded for the seventh time to be selected for the U-19 World Cup.

In the last match played under the qualifying round, Nepal had defeated Ireland by eight wickets. Ireland set a target of 185 runs for Nepal after choosing to bat first. Nepal defeated Papua New Guinea by nine wickets in the first match while posting a 171 runs win over Uganda in the second match in the selection round. In the third match, Nepal defeated America by six wickets. RSS

Meanwhile, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has congratulated the Under-19 national cricket team, coach and manager on the team’s selection to the ICC U-19 World Cup to be held next year in Bangladesh.

Through a press release today, PM Oli said the victory in cricket today was a significant achievement to all the Nepali sports lovers and the country. Premier Oli also expressed the commitment that the government would extend whatever support it can for the promotion of cricket and other sports in the country, according to Pramod Dahal, the Prime Minister’s press advisor. RSS