Nepal beats Denmark for cricket WCL promotion

Kuala Lumpur: Nepal registered its fifth consecutive victory in the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cricket League (WCL) Division 4 tournament, defeating Denmark by 25 runs at the Kinrara Academy Oval in Kuala Lumpur.

With the victory over its fifth opponent from its six-member group including Singapore, Malaysia, the United States and Tanzania, Nepal secured its berth in the Division 3 of the WCL, the one and only qualification system of the world cup. After winning the toss, Nepal chose to bat first where the only undefeated team in the group garnered 240 runs in the allotted 50 overs, losing nine wickets. Opening batsman Anil Mandal top-scored with 113 runs off 134 balls with eight boundaries and four sixes. In return, the Danish chase was interrupted by rain after 25 overs, when they were 77 for 3. Later, Denmark failed to meet the revised target of 156 runs for 31 overs as per the Duckworth-Lewis rule. Riding on Andreas Lambert`s score of 47 runs off 79 balls, the Danish squad only managed to garner 130 runs losing nine wickets in total innings. This was the first encounter between the two nations in a 50-over match. Earlier in March, the duo had locked horns in the ICC World Twenty 20 qualifier match in Dubai when Nepal had thumped the Danes by nine wickets. Sunday`s victory promoted the Division-4 champion Nepal to Division 3 with 10 points. The US also managed to secure its berth at the Division 3 after defeating Singapore by 37 runs in another match. IANS