Nepal to play UAE in World Cup selection semifinals

KATHMANDU: FEB. 21 – Nepal has advanced to the T20 Cricket World Cup semifinals. Nepal advanced to the tournament semifinals after defeating Canada by 8 wickets in their third group match.

Nepal advanced to the semifinals as the group winner. Nepal went undefeated in all three games. Nepal will now compete against the UAE for a place in the World Cup.

Nepal achieved their target of 81 runs despite losing two wickets in the 15th over. To help Nepal win, Kushal Bhurtel scored 34 not out and Dipendra Singh Airee contributed 27 not out. Aasif Sheikh made 17 runs, while Kushal Malla was out for zero.

Earlier, after winning the toss, Canada was all out for 80 in 15 overs in Oman. Nepal captain Sandeep Lamichhane took three wickets, Kamal Singh Airee and Abinash Bohara each took two, and Kushal Malla took one.

Nepal bowled sharply from the start and put pressure on the Canadian batsmen. Ryan Pathan (14), Navneet Dhaliwal (18), Salman Nazar (10) and Dillon Heyliger (24 not out) were the only batsmen to score double figures.

Canada, who lost nine wickets for 48 runs, shared 32 runs for the tenth wicket.