Nepal defeated Kuwait by seven wickets in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 Asia qualifiers, keeping the country’s hope of entering the global qualifiers alive.

After winning the toss, Nepal decided to bowl and were successful in limiting Kuwait to 141 runs in the 20 overs. Spinners Basanta Regmi and Sandeep Lamichhane took three wickets each.

Skipper Paras Khadka, who returned to the team after being injured in the first match against Qatar, played a captain’s knock in Saturday’s victory.

Chasing a target of 142, Khadka, who opened the innings with Gyanendra Malla, made an impressive 68 runs in 42 balls before falling to Muhammad Kashif’s bowling.

Malla picked up 19 runs in 13 balls, but it was Sharad Vesawkar who finished the game for Nepal with an unbeaten 38 runs in 30 balls. Nepal met the target in just 15.5 overs with the loss of three wickets.

This is the second victory for Nepal in three matches. With four points, Nepal are now second in the table behind Singapore, which is leading with five points from three matches.

Nepal will play its final match against Singapore on Sunday. The winner of that game will book its place in the global qualifiers, which will be held in the UAE in October and November.

Nepal, which started as the tournament favourite, were defeated in its very first match against Qatar.