Nepal, Oman seal spots for the Men's T20 World Cup 2024
Oman, Nepal, Bahrain, and UAE were the four sides to feature in the semi-finals of the Asia Qualifier Final 2023. Of these, Oman and Nepal prevailed and will now feature in the T20 World Cup next year.
For the first time, 20 teams will form part of the T20 World Cup and will be divided into four groups of five.
The top two teams in each of the groups will move to a Super Eight phase, where the remaining teams will be split into two groups of four. The top two in each group will then make their way to the semi-finals.
Oman will make a third appearance at the T20 World Cup after defeating Bahrain by a comprehensive margin of 10 wickets.
Bahrain won the toss and elected to bat first. They got off to a decent start but stumbled thereafter with the incisive UAE bowling leaving them at 77/8 at the 16th over mark. A late flourish from Ahmed Bin Nisar (26*) got them to 106/9 in the 20 overs.
Aqib Ilyas stood out with his career-best 4/10 in four overs while Shakeel Ahmed finished with 2/24.
An exemplary performance by Oman captain and Player of the Match, Zeeshan Maqsood.
Openers Kashyap Prajapati (57 off 44) and Pratik Athavale (50 off 42) finished the chase by the 15th over mark. Prajapati hit six fours and two sixes, while Athavale had six fours to his name.
Aqib Ilyas was named the Player of the Match for his brilliant bowling.
Playing in front of a jam-packed Mulpani Cricket Ground, the tournament hosts Nepal defeated the United Arab Emirates by eight wickets to secure a ticket to the T20 World Cup next year. This will be their second appearance at the global event.
UAE won the toss and decided to bat first. Despite a fighting half-century from Vriitya Aravind (64), the Emiratis were limited to 134/9 at the back of some disciplined Nepal bowling. Captain Muhammad Waseem was the other major contributor at 26 (16).
Kushal Malla's left-arm spin fetched him three wickets, followed by Sandeep Lamichhane’s two breakthroughs. Sompal Kami and Rohit Paudel had a wicket each.
Match highlights as Nepal fought back to chase down the UAE target at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023
Nepal lost two wickets in response, but a steady, unbeaten 68-run stand between Aasif Sheikh (64 from 51) and Rohit Paudel (34 from 20) sealed the win for Nepal. Basil Hameed and Nilansh Keswani were among the wickets for UAE.
Aasif was named as the Player of the Match for his unbeaten knock which included seven fours and a six.
The victorious teams will now feature in a showpiece final at TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on Sunday, 5 November.