Nepal pulled off a dramatic two-wicket victory over Papua New Guinea (PNG) in the last over in their opening match of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Triangular Series of the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 in Sharjah on Wednesday.

Batting first, PNG posted 204-8 before Nepal surpassed the target scoring 208-8 with four balls to spare on the back of half-century by Rohit Paudel and late heroics by Karan KC who hit the winning six.

Chasing the target, Nepal made a shaky start to their run chase and were restricted to 4-42 at the end of the 14th over. But Paudel and Aarif steadied the innings with a 100-run partnership for the fifth wicket providing a huge respite to Nepal before Paudel was dismissed.

Paudel played 60 off 83 in his patience knock before he was caught by Norman Vanua off Riley Hekure as the fifth wicket in the 38th over. He hit four fences and also scored his fourth ODI half century. Aarif, the next wicket to fall, contributed 83-ball 49 that included one boundary. He was trapped leg before by Alei Nao.

All-rounder KC, coming to bat at number eight, played a key role in Nepal's victory contributing an unbeaten 29 off 25 that consisted of a boundary and two maximums. He was the only batter for Nepal to hit six. While Nepal required 26 runs from the last 18 deliveries, KC smashed Hekure for six in the first ball of the 48th over as Nepal collected 10 runs in the over to shorten the required run rate.

Nepal required 16 runs from the last two overs and they managed to collect nine runs in the penultimate over that included a boundary by KC. He managed to pull six runs from four deliveries while Sompal Kami contributed three runs before he was dismissed in the fourth delivery of the over.

KC hit Chad Soper for four in leg by in the first delivery of the last over and a six in the following delivery to pull the nerve-biting victory. It was also the third ODI victory over PNG in as many matches played. Nepal had last defeated them in two-match series in September last year ahead of their World Cup League 2 Oman Series.

With the win, Nepal collected 10 points from nine matches and are sixth in the seven-team contest. PNG are yet to open their account in the standings after playing their 14th match. They were also defeated by hosts UAE by seven wickets on Tuesday. Oman lead the standings with 36 points after 28 matches and UAE are behind them with 18 points from 15 matches. The teams that finish in the top three positions will secure berths for the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers.

Earlier, Nepal made a shaky start to their run chase losing opener Kushal Bhurtel, who was dismissed for just one run in the first delivery of second over as he was caught by wicketkeeper Dogodo Bau off Alei Nao. Former captain Gyanendra Malla was the next batsman to be dismissed on four runs in the third over after he was trapped leg before by Norman Vanua with 2-6 on board.

Opener Aasif Sheikh and Binod Bhandari were the only other batters to touch double digit figures scoring 16 off 40 and 11 off 25 respectively.

PNG bowlers Norman Vanua, Alei Nao and Riley Hekure pocketed two wickets each.

PNG comparatively made a better start to their innings with the opening pair of Tony Ura and Lega Siaka putting up 51-run stand for the first wicket before the former was dismissed. Ura contributed 34-ball 27 before being caught by wicketkeeper Bhandari off Aarif Sheik in the 10th over.

Siaka played 33-ball 25 before being trapped by captain Sandeep Lamichhane in the 12th over. Charles Amini contributed 59 off 82, the highest of the innings, before being caught by Sompal Kami off Dipendra Singh Airee.

Captain Assad Vala (52-ball 19), Chad Soper (74-ball 35) and Norman Vanua (12-ball 23) were other PNG batters to make remarkable contributions.

Pacer Kami, who returned to the national fold after six months due to injury, was the pick of Nepal's bowling claiming three wickets. He gave away 48 runs in his 10-over spell. Aarif Sheik, Lamichhane and Gyanendra Malla pocketed one wicket each.

Nepal will play their next match against UAE on Friday before taking on the same opponents on Monday and PNG on Tuesday in the double header Series.