The second consecutive victory lifted Nepal to second position in the six-team event with four points from three matches, raising their qualification chances to the ICC World Cricket League Championship (WCLC) and Intercontinental Cup (ICup) in Division 1. Nepal next meet hosts and one of the pre-tournament favourites Namibia on Wednesday.

Canada’s decision to bat first backfired as Karan KC polished off their top order, returning a figure of 5-28 in 10 overs. They were skittled out for a tournament-low 114 in 49.2 overs.

Chasing a small total, Nepal had their share of anxious moments as both the openers—Naresh Budhayar and Subash Khakurel—returned to the pavilion with no score on the board.

But Khadka, together with his deputy Gyanendra Malla, steadied the Nepali ship, putting on 114 runs for the third wicket. Playing with judicious aggression, Paras scored 77 off 78 balls as Nepal cantered to 115-3 in 23.1 overs. In the process, he became the first Nepali batsman to score over a thousand runs in the WCL.

KC, who went wicketless in the first two outings in his debut tournament, proved more than handful for the Canadians.

“Karan was exceptional,” Khadka told the Post over the phone from Namibia. “It was the bowlers who set up the victory for us. Our opening bowling combination of Karan and Sompal [Kami] has been wonderful in this tournament and they were crucial again today,” said the elated Khadka.

But the captain has asked his team not to get carried away by the victory and focus on the remaining matches against Namibia and Kenya. “We cannot get complacent at this stage. It’s a tough tournament and we have to stay positive as we aim to keep this streak of wins,” he said. Nepal bounced back from a loss against Uganda to stun title contenders the Netherlands by two wickets on Sunday.

The top two teams from tournament qualify for the Division 1 which offers them a slew of fixtures from ICC top drawer, including the WCLC-home and away 50-over matches for Associate teams-along with ICup, a four-day first class competition between the teams until 2018.