Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Nepal pulled off a thrilling 5-run victory over Qatar in the Super Six stage of the ICC T20 World Cup Asia–East Asia Pacific Qualifier at Al Amerat, Oman, on Monday.
Batting first, Nepal scored 147 runs for the loss of nine wickets. In reply, Qatar were cruising at 105 for 3 in 13.1 overs and headimg for the win courtesy of their 79-run opening stand in 10 overs. However, Sandeep Lamichhane’s brilliant spell of 5/18 in 3.5 overs choked Qatar who were bowled out for 142 in 19.5 overs.
It was Nepal’s second consecutive win in the Super Six, following their one-run triumph over the UAE the previous day.
Imal Liyanage (56) and Zubair Ali (52) put on 79 runs for Qatar for first wicket in just 10 overs. Lamichhane broke the stand on the final ball of the 10th over, bowling out Liyanage for 56. Liyanage’s 35-ball knock included five fours and three sixes.
Lamichhane struck again in his next over, dismissing Mohammad Asim for 10. Dipendra Singh Airee sent back captain Mirza Baig for 2, while Adil Alam Ansari ran out Mohammad Tanveer for a duck. Qatar’s collapse continued, and Zubair was dismissed in the 19th over after scoring 52 off 55 balls .
Lamichhane then wrapped up the innings by removing Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and Amir Farooq in the 20th over.
Nandan Yadav took two wickets, and Airee claimed one.
Earlier, Nepal posted 147 for 9 in their 20 overs. Although Kushal Bhurtel (6), Aasif Sheikh (11) and Kushal Malla (8) fell cheaply, captain Rohit Paudel (51) and Dipendra Singh Airee (26) added 62 runs off 44 balls for the fourth wicket to steady the innings. However, a mid-order collapse saw Nepal lose four wickets for just six runs, preventing them from going past 150.
Airee fell on the last ball of the 15th over for 26 off 22 balls. Adil Alam Ansari, making his first appearance of the tournament, scored just 2 from 6 balls. Gulshan Jha struck two sixes in his 16-run cameo from 8 balls, while Sompal Kami was run out off the final ball after scoring 14 off 9.
For Qatar, captain Mirza Baig and Daniel Archer took three wickets each.
