KATHMANDU, JUL 17 - As fears of exit from the playoff neared, Nepal will be hoping for a comeback in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers when they take on a resurgent Papua New Guinea (PNG) in a do-or-die game in Dublin, Ireland on Friday.
Nepal are fifth in the Group A standing with three points from four matches and cannot afford to lose a single game if they are to keep their hopes of qualifying for the playoffs. Holders Ireland and PNG are primed to secure direct qualification to the 2016 ICC World Twenty20. Top teams in each group earn direct qualification, while three others in each of the teams will go into the playoffs for remaining four others spots for the 2016 World Twenty20 in India. So, Nepal need to finish at least at No 4 in their group to make it to the playoffs.
The best Nepal can do now is to win both remaining matches–the last against Jersey–and hope results from other fixtures go their way. Ireland lead the standings with six points from four matches and PNG are second with five from three games. Namibia and Hong Kong have three points each from three games with the former sitting third on better net run-rate. As Namibia and Hong Kong are both left with two testing fixtures in their remaining three games, Nepal would look to make most of the opportunity but PNG have posed themselves as a tough opponents so far.
PNG opened their tournament with an easy 24-run victory over Jersey before their match against Hong Kong was washed out. They produced a major upset defeating the Irish by two wickets on Wednesday. The victory against the settled Associate giants will now make them hot favourites going into the match against Nepal.
Nepal, on the other side, have been out of form having lost two matches in a row where they flopped as a batting unit after opening with the USA win. Batting has been the major concern for the team who were folded out for a record low total of 53 against Ireland in an eight-wicket defeat. After trying out all batting options except for untested rookie Siddhant Lohani, all coach Pubudu Dassanayake can do is hope his batsmen come hard against PNG.
Nepal hold a 2-1 edge over PNG in their three meetings. Since both the wins came in the sub-continent, a seamer-friendly pitch in Dublin will keep them circumspect.
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