Nepal and Oman qualify for ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in West Indies and USA

Nepal and Oman have qualified for ICC T20 World Cup 2024 from Asia region.

Nepal have secured their place in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, scheduled to be played in West Indies and USA. Nepal beat UAE in the World T20 Asia qualifier semi-finals to secure their place in the biggest T20 event. Along with Nepal, Oman also have qualified for the T20 World Cup after defeating Bahrain in the semi-finals played in Nepal. Both teams will be facing off against each other in the finals of the qualifier tournament on Sunday at Kirtipur.

Nepal and Oman qualify

Nepal defeated UAE by 8 wickets in the semi-finals and joined the top teams around the world in the big event. Wicket-keeper batter Asif Sheikh played a magnificent knock of 64 runs in 51 balls to take his team into the finals. Sheikh helped Nepal chase down 135 runs at Mulpani Cricket Ground. Kushal Malla (3 wickets) and Sandeep Lamichchane (2 wickets) curtailed UAE to just 134 runs in 20 overs. Asif added a match-winning partnership of 68 runs along with skipper Rohit Paudel (34).

In another semi-finals match played at Kirtipur between Oman and Bahrain, Oman had a dominating win against Bahrain and won the game by 10 wickets. Bahrain posted a small total of just 106 runs in 20 overs. Leg-spinner Aqib Ilyas was the hero for Oman with his spell of four wickets. Openers Kashyap Prajapati (57) and Pratik Athavale (50) had an unbeaten 109-run opening stand to qualify for the World Event along with Nepal.

20 teams to take part in T20 World Cup 2024

For the first time in the history of cricket, an ICC event will be played with 20 teams. 18 teams have been decided till now after Nepal and Oman qualified from Asian region, two more slots are left and will be decided later this month from African region. The World T20 Qualifier African region is set to be played from November 22 to November 30 in Namibia. Nepal qualified for Asia Cup 2023 after beating UAE in the qualifiers.

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 will be played in West Indies and USA in June next year. The tournament will be held in a different format, as 20 teams will be participating. Four different groups will be divided into five teams each, and the top two teams from each group will qualify for the super 8 round. Then the teams will be divided into two groups in the super 8 round, and the top two teams from each will play in the knockout round.