Nepal kept alive their hopes of gaining ODI status and simultaneously put Afghanistan into the Super Six stage with a win over Hong Kong today in Bulawayo.

Hong Kong won the toss and chose to bat first at the Bulawayo Athletic Club. Their innings was led by Nizakat Khan’s 47, the top score in a sub-par total of 153, with the next highest score being Ehsan Khan’s 21. Sandeep Lamichhane was the pick of the Nepali bowlers with 3-17 from his ten overs.

Nepal needed to score six every ball to reach the Super Six stage themselves, but wisely didn’t attempt that, instead opting to just go for a simple victory.

They started their run chase well with a 41 run opening partnership between Gyanendra Malla and Anil Sah, but eventually an all too familiar procession of wickets occurred as Nepal soon found themselves on 66-5 with 30 overs still to come.

The old Nepal would perhaps have crashed to defeat from there, but the current Nepal side have gained a habit of pulling victory from the jaws of certain defeat, and the 15 year old Rohit Paudel led the way alongside Sompal Kami.

The pair put on an unbroken 89 for the sixth wicket, securing a five wicket win. They lifted their net run rate over that of Hong Kong to ensure a seventh place play-off semi-final against Papua New Guinea on Thursday.