Nepal made history after attaining ODI status for the first time after defeating Papua New Guinea by six wickets at the Old Hararians Sports Club, Harare in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers. After putting PNG into bat, Sandeep Lamichhane and Dipendra Singh Airee picked up four wickets each to bundle PNG for just 114 runs. Nepal knocked off the runs in 23 overs.
Nepal, Hong Kong, and PNG were vying for the one ODI status spot available before Nepal crossed over the line against PNG. Nepal’s captain Paras Khadka said that a proper management needs to be set up for cricket to prosper in their country. "We need to have a proper management, it is as simple as that. If we can get a proper system and management back at home, cricket is going to prosper. No matter what happens with Nepal cricket, we need a proper management to lead the way forward," Paras Khadka said. Khadka said that the Nepal team members are pushing themselves to attain great results on the field.
"As players, we are pushing ourselves, and whatever happens outside we have always known that if we do well on the field, we can hopefully reach somewhere like that. Over the years, we have played good cricket. Once we missed out on the Super Six and qualification was out of our hands, we knew we had to focus on ODI status,” Paras Khadka said.
