A record five-wicket haul from pacer Karan KC including a hat-trick and half century from Dipendra Singh Airee gave Nepal a 37-run victory over Papua New Guinea (PNG) as the hosts stormed into the final of the Nepal Tri-Nation T20I Series with a match in hand at TU ground on Thursday.

Put to bat first, the home team posted 203-7 after all-rounder Dipendra Singh Airee played a quickfire knock of 33-ball 66 and debutant Mohammad Aadil Alam smashed 33 runs from 11 deliveries. In the run chase, PNG were bowled out for 166 runs with two balls to spare despite a half century by Charles Amini.

Nepal had defeated the same opponents by 15 runs in the opening match on Monday and Malaysia by six wickets on Wednesday. The outcome meant Nepal topped the group on six points from three matches. Malaysia is second with two points from as many matches while PNG are pointless after three matches.

The 30-year-old KC, who removed three batters in a row in the last over, also became the first Nepali player to grab a T20I hat-trick and also first player to claim five wickets in a T20I game. Basanta Regmi held the previous T20I best bowling figure of 4-16.

The-player-of-the-match KC also became the second Nepali cricketer to reach the 50-wicket milestone in the short format of the game after captain Sandeep Lamichhane.

KC removed opener Lega Siaka in the fourth ball of the innings to reach his 50-ball milestone. He also dismissed captain Assad Vala, the other opener, in the third over as he was caught by Sompal Kami. KC then removed Chad Soper in the second delivery of the last over, caught by Rohit Paudel, bowled Simon Atai in the following ball before Nosaina Pokana was caught by Airee in the fourth ball of the over as PNG were all bowled out for 166 runs.

KC gave away 21 runs in his 3.4 overs spell. Kami and Abinash Bohara were the other bowlers to claim two wickets each while Lamichhane picked one.

"I am elated to gather the best bowling figure of my career and it is very special for me. I will try to repeat the feat in upcoming matches as well," said KC. "We have been playing lots of T20 matches for the last four-five years and the domestic structure is also dominated by the T20 format. The playing mood automatically switches to T20 format. The international exposure was really helpful."

Regarding his hat-trick wicket, KC said: "I was already celebrating when I saw the ball flying toward Dipendra."

Airee, the highest scorer of the innings, made his fourth T20I half century. He struck three boundaries and four maximums before being caught by Tony Ura off Nosaina Pokana. He and Alam, who smashed three sixes and a boundary, combined to collect 56 runs from two overs—17 and 18th, guiding Nepal to a huge total. Alam was trapped leg before by Kabua Morea.

Rohit Paudel contributed 41 off 23 hitting four fences and two sixes before he was caught by Sese Bau off Riley Hekura. Openers Kushal Bhurtel contributed 17 off 20 and Aasif Sheikh 38 off 29 with 72 for two on board. Bhurtel hit two fences and Sheikh four boundaries and a six.

PNG bowler Morea grabbed three wickets while Hekure picked two wickets in their four-over spell each. Morea conceded 29 runs and Hekure gave away 22 runs.

PNG were off two to a shaky start in their run chase as they lost openers Siaka and Vala for one run each. But Charles Amini and Tony Ura steadied the innings with a 84-run stand for the third wicket before the latter was dismissed for 43 off 22. He hit two fences and four sixes.

Amini, the highest scorer of PNG, played 47-ball 62 before he was sent to pavilion in the 14th over. He hit nine fences before being caught by Bhurtel off Kami. Sese Bau and Norman Vanua were other remarkable contributors scoring 25 runs and 17 runs respectively.

Malaysia and PNG will play on Friday before Nepal wrap up the league stage on Saturday vying against Malaysia. The top two teams at the end of the league round will play in the title decider match.