MUSCAT, Oman — Nepal defeated Canada by eight wickets Monday at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier A, ending Canadian hopes of reaching the semifinals at the eight-team tournament.
The two finalists will qualify for the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia later this year.
Nepal (3-0-0) and Oman (2-1-0) advanced from Canada's group with Ireland (2-1-0) and the United Arab Emirates (2-1-0) completing the final four.
Nepal will take on the United Arab Emirates, the Group B runner-up, while host Oman faces Group A leader Ireland in Tuesday's semifinals. Canada (1-2-0) faces Germany (0-3-0) in placement play.
The Canadian men won the toss Monday and elected to bat. Opener Matthew Spoors, who scored a century in his Canadian debut earlier in the tournament, lasted just three balls before exiting on zero.
Nepal captain Sandeep Lamichhane led the bowling attack with a three-wicket haul as Canada was removed for 80 runs with five overs to spare. The Canadian innings was slowed by two run-out dismissals.
Canada never recovered from a double-wicket loss in the sixth over. The next five batters were dismissed for just nine runs, leaving the team wobbling at 48 for nine with nearly 10 overs remaining.
Dilon Heyliger and Salman Nazar staged a late rally with a 32-run stand. Heyliger hit two sixes and a four in his unbeaten 22-ball 24 while Nazar made 10.
Nepal reached the victory target with 35 balls to spare, finishing at 81 for two with opener Kushal Burtel leading the way with an unbeaten 34. Dipendra Singh Airee added 27.
“It was one of those days where nothing worked for us," said Canada captain Navneet Dhaliwal. "The run-outs never let us build any momentum and changed the complexion of the match.”
Canada has never qualified for the T20 World Cup.
In other Group B play Monday, Oman recorded an impressive nine-wicket win over the Philippines (0-3-0).
Oman posted one of the largest margins of victory in a T20 international by bowling out the Philippines for 36 in 15.2 overs, their lowest-ever T20 International total. Oman then reached its modest victory target in just 2.5 overs, scoring 40-1.
The lopsided Oman victory, with 103 balls remaining, was just a ball more than the world-record margin set by Austria when it beat Turkey with 104 balls remaining in a T20I match in 2019.
Ireland and Oman qualified for the tournament by virtue of being eliminated in the first round of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021, while Nepal and the U.A.E. booked their slots via their rankings in the ICC MRF Tyres Men's T20I Team rankings.
The other teams advanced through regional qualifying tournaments with the U.S. and Canada finishing 1-2 at the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier in November in Antigua.
The ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier B is scheduled for July 11-17 in Harare with Hong Kong, Jersey, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Uganda, the U.S. and host Zimbabwe taking part.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 21, 2022.
The Canadian Press