Nepal will play Ireland in an ODI match for the seventh place in the ongoing ICC World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe today. The match will be held at the Takasinga Sports Club in Harare and will start at 12:45 PM Nepali time.
This is the first time that Nepal will play an ODI match against Ireland. Ireland is the third Test country where Nepal will play ODIs. In the tournament, Nepal has already competed with Test nations Zimbabwe and West Indies.
If Nepal defeats Ireland, it will be their historic first victory in ODIs against a Test nation. In 2018, Nepal was ranked eighth in the World Cup qualifier held in Zimbabwe. This time, Nepal also has the opportunity to finish the competition one place higher.
Nepal was eliminated from Group ‘A’ at the fourth position with 3 losses and 1 win out of 4 matches. Nepal defeated USA. After losing to Zimbabwe, West Indies and the Netherlands, they could not reach the Super Six.
On the other hand, Ireland also failed to reach the Super Six from Group B, with 3 defeats and 1 defeat in 4 matches. Ireland lost to Oman, Scotland and Sri Lanka and beat UAE in the group stage.
Nepal vs Ireland : Head to Head
Nepal and Ireland have met three times in T20 Internationals, with Nepal being defeated all three times.
In the 2015 T20 World Cup Qualifiers, Ireland defeated Nepal by 8 wickets. Nepal scored 54 runs, and Ireland chased down the target in 8 overs with 2 wickets remaining.
In the 2015 five-nation T20I series held in Oman, Nepal was defeated by 13 runs. Nepal chased down 146 runs, but fell short by 13 runs in 19.5 overs. Sandeep Lamichhane and Avinash Bohra took 2 wickets each for Nepal, while Arif Sheikh scored 26 runs, Paras Khadka scored 25 runs, and Ishan Pandey scored 22 runs. George Dockrell and Mark Adair took 3 wickets each for Ireland, while Paul Stirling scored 59 runs.
In the 2015 five-nation T20I series held in Oman, Nepal was defeated by 13 runs. Nepal chased down 146 runs, but fell short by 13 runs in 19.5 overs. Sandeep Lamichhane and Abinash Bohara took 2 wickets each for Nepal, while Aarif Sheikh scored 26 runs, Paras Khadka scored 25 runs, and Ishan Pandey scored 22 runs. George Dockrell and Mark Adair took 3 wickets each for Ireland, while Paul Stirling scored 59 runs.
In the 2022 four-nation T20I series held in Oman, Nepal was defeated by 16 runs. Nepal chased down 128 runs, but fell short by 16 runs in 20 overs. Dipendra Airee scored 28 runs and Aasif Sheikh scored 23 runs for Nepal, while Dipendra took 4 wickets and Abinash Bohra took 2 wickets.
Squads:
Nepal Squad: Kushal Bhurtel, Arjun Saud(w), Gyanendra Malla, Rohit Paudel(c), Bhim Sharki, Aarif Sheikh, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulsan Jha, Sandeep Lamichhane, Karan KC, Pratis GC, Aasif Sheikh, Kushal Malla, Lalit Rajbanshi, Sompal Kami, Kishore Mahato
Ireland Squad: Andy McBrine, Paul Stirling, Andrew Balbirnie(c), Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker(w), Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Craig Young, Joshua Little, Peter Moor, Benjamin White, Graham Hume
