Nepal registered a convincing nine-wicket victory over Hong Kong to secure their third victory in a row at the Asian Regional Qualifier for the ICC U-19 Men's Cricket World Cup in the United Arab Emirates on Monday.

Electing to bat first, Hong Kong were bowled out for a meagre total of 120 runs in 46.3 overs at the Malek Cricket Ground in Ajman. Chasing the target, Nepal raced to 126-1 in 22.1 overs as opener Aakash Tripathi scored an unbeaten half century and shared an unconquered 98-run partnership for the second wicket.

A third victory from as many matches strengthened Nepal’s bid to qualify for the U-19 World Cup being held in Sri Lanka next year. The winners of the six-team group will qualify for the World Cup finals.

Nepal are square with the UAE on six points but sit below the hosts due to an inferior run rate. The UAE also made it three wins in a row after they defeated Singapore by eight wickets.

Should Nepal win the remaining two fixtures—against Malaysia on Tuesday and hosts UAE on Thursday—they will return to the U-19 World Cup for the first time since 2016.

Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe have already qualified for the 2024 World Cup as the best-placed full member nations from the previous edition of the World Cup in 2022.

The remaining five spots will be fulfilled through the regional qualifier—Asia, East-Asia Pacific, Africa, Europe and Americas—with one team from each region securing a place at the Sri Lanka finals.

Earlier, Hong Kong had a shaky start to their innings and kept losing wickets in quick succession and were struggling at 36-4. Batter Parth Bhagwat contributed a 93-ball 36, the highest of the innings, that included four hits to the fence. Dipesh Kandel had him caught by Dipak Prasad Dumre.

Mohammad Aliyaan Zahir (29 off 67) and Ahan Trivedi (not out 11 off 17) were the other batters to reach double-digit scores for Hong Kong.

Hemant Dhami was the pick of bowling for Nepal claiming three wickets in his nine-over spell. He conceded 37 runs, while bowling three maiden overs. Subash Bhandari and Akash Chand picked up two wickets each.

Chasing the target, Nepal made light work of Hong Kong.

Opener Aasash Tripathi smashed an unbeaten 64 runs off 72 balls that included five hits to the boundary along with four sixes. Uttam Rangu Thapa Magar remained not out on 39 runs, facing 50 deliveries. He slammed four hits to the boundary. The duo shared an unbeaten stand of 98-runs with Tripathi smashing the winning six. Arjun Kumal was dismissed on 16 runs after facing 12 deliveries.

Hong Kong bowler Daniel Morgan Mapp claimed Nepal’s only wicket.

Nepal had registered a convincing 96-run win over Singapore on Friday and a 243-run victory over Kuwait on Saturday.