Dipesh Kandel snared five wickets including a hat-trick in the 48th over as the Nepali youth team snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat, stunning hosts United Arab Emirates by seven runs on Thursday to qualify for next year’s ICC U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka.

The slow left-arm orthodox bowler grabbed the last three wickets in a row to bowl out the UAE when they were just eight runs shy of victory with 15 balls to spare in the winner-takes-all game.

The 17-year-old bowled Harshit Seth for four runs on the fourth ball of the 48th over. He then had Harit Harish Shetty caught by captain Dev Khanal for a duck in the following delivery. In his last delivery of the over, the-player-of-the match Kandel bowled Monish Gajesh as Nepal erupted to celebrate the victory.

The victory paves way for Nepal to make a comeback at the global showpiece next year after eight years. The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has declared cash rewards of Rs100,000 to each member of the Nepali squad.

Both the sides came into the last group match maintaining their perfect record in the Asia Regional Qualifier for the ICC U-19 Men's Cricket World Cup which sends only the table toppers to the global event. Victory in their last group match meant Nepal finished with 10 points, winning all five games while the UAE bowed out as runners-up with eight points.

Nepal had registered convincing wins over Kuwait, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong in their previous games.

“The victory caps a hugely successful Qualifier for us. We have come up against a lot of talented cricketers during the past week, but for us to win having gone through the event undefeated highlights the wealth of talent we possess within this team,” Nepal’s coach Jagat Tamata was quoted as saying by the ICC. “... we are excited by the prospect of coming up against the strongest teams and the best young players in the world in Sri Lanka next year.”

Sent into bat first at the Eden Garden Oval in Ajman, Nepal were bowled out for 191 runs in 48.5 overs despite struggling with bat at the early stage. Unlike Nepal, the home team made a bright start to their innings but saw a dramatic collapse of the middle and lower order as they were bundled out for 184 runs in 48 overs.

“It felt as though we were 20 runs short when we finished our innings, but we clawed this back thanks to our excellent bowling and fielding,” said Nepal’s coach Tamata after the game.

Nepal lost their openers early: Deepak Bohara in the very first ball of the innings and Arjun Kumal on three runs in the fourth over. Akash Tripathi was the next batter to be dismissed for nine runs as the score read 3-19.

But captain Dev Khanal, who came to bat at number four, gave stability to the innings with a half century. He top-scored, cracking 51 runs off 84 deliveries, in an inning that included three hits to the fences and a six before he was caught by Aayan Afxal off Ammar Badami.

Khanal also shared an 84-run stand for the fourth wicket with Uttam Rangu Thapa, who scored 48-ball 36. Bishal Bikram KC contributed 38 runs off 50. Both Rangu Thapa and KC were trapped leg before by Aayan Afzal Khan.

Dipesh Kandel (15), Hemant Dhami (13) and Milan Bohara (10) were the other Nepali players to make double-digit contributions.

Dhruv Parashar claimed three wickets for the UAE in his 6.5 overs, conceding 18 runs with a maiden in between. Captain Aryan Afzal Khan and Harit Harish Shetty pocketed two wickets apiece.

In the run chase, UAE middle order batter Ethan Carl D’Souza contributed exactly half century in his 66-ball knock before he was bowled by Hemant Dhami. Openers Aryan Saxena contributed 34 runs off 65 and Aryansh Sharma 32 runs off 50 as the duo put up a 67-run stand for the first wicket. Kandel had Saxena caught by Dipak Prasad Dumre while Sharma was bowled by Subash Bhandari.

Dhruv Parashar (17), Ammar Badami (19) and Maroof Merchan (not out 12) contributed for the UAE. The hosts seemed to be in course to victory with 153-5 in 42.2 overs, and required 39 runs for victory.

But the home team saw a dramatic collapse as they lost the remaining five wickets for just 31 runs.

Nepal’s bowler Kandel gave away 31 runs in his 10-over spell that included a maiden. Hemant Dhami and Subash Bhandari clinched two wickets each.