The payers of millions of Nepali fans worked wonders as Nepal dispatched the challenge from Papua New Guinea and triumphed over them to not only secure their place in the 7th/8th play-off spot in the ongoing ICC World Cup Qualifiers, but also secure crucial temporary ODI status spot until 2022, which will be significant in development of the sport in the country.
Nepal skipper Paras Khadka expressed his gratitude and congratulated the whole nation in this historic achievement on his twitter account:
Thank you everyone for the support..Just been years and years of toil,persisitance,sacrifices,commitment and hardwork..Finally WE BECOME An ODI nation..
Congratulations to everyone who has been part of Nepal cricket's incredible journey ..
God Bless..!!!— Paras Khadka (@paras77) March 15, 2018
Hong Kong needed a win against Netherlands in the other play-off spot match, that was taking place at the same time as the Nepal/PNG game, but fell short by 44 runs chasing 175 for victory as they got bowled out for 130 in the 43rd over.
The day belonged to Dipendra Singh Airee (4/14) and Sandeep Lamichhane (4/29) as their spell restricted Papua New Guinea to only 114 runs in 27.2 overs. Airee then starred with the bat with an unbeaten 50 runs as he guided Nepal to reach 115/4 in the 23rd over to win the match by 6 wickets.
Netherlands total of 174 was set up mainly by Max O’Dowd (62 off 71) and Peter Borren (31 off 63). Nadeem Ahmed (3/20) bowled beautifully to restrict the run-scoring at the top of the order for Netherlands. Tanwir Afzal and Ehsan Khan also picked up couple of wickets to show for their efforts.
Hong Kong skipper Babar Hayat (52 off 94) fought a lone battle for the majority of the innings as Roelof van der Merwe (4/18) ripped through the HK batting line-up to register a rather easy win for the Dutch, who will now meet Nepal for the 7th/8th play-off.
Hong Kong and Papua New Guinea will now contest the 9th/10th play-off match and both teams will be heading to ICC World Cricket League Division 2 in 2019 to try and qualify for World Cricket League Championship.
