The United Arab Emirates were crowned the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 champions in Windhoek on Wednesday as they beat Nepal by seven runs.

They will now join the West Indies, Ireland, the Netherlands and Papua New Guinea in group A at the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, whilst Nepal will take the remaining spot in group B alongside Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Scotland and Zimbabwe.

Canada secured third place in Division 2 beating Namibia by 49 runs, who took fourth and Oman finished fifth after a five wicket win over sixth placed Kenya.

FINAL

The UAE defeated Nepal by seven runs in an exciting end to a thrilling tournament. The batting order all played their part but Ashfaq Ahmed’s century (114 off 123 balls), which featured 10 fours and three sixes, was the stand out performance.

Captain Rohan Mustafa (51), Rameez Shahzad (41 not out) and Shaiman Anwar (40) all chipped in with important runs. Sandeep Lamichhane (1-39) was once again the stand out bowler for the Nepalese. The UAE finished their innings on 270 for eight after their 50 overs.

In reply, Nepal had their own century maker, captain Paras Khadka (112 not out off 103 balls) who almost led them over the line again in another close match. His heroics – which earned him the title of most runs in the tournament at 241 runs –  supported by Dipendra Airee (35) and Sharad Vesawkar (30) were not quite enough as they fell eight runs short.

The UAE’s Amir Hayat was the best bowler in the final taking four wickets for 53 runs. Nepal’s Sandeep Lamichhane for his 17 wickets for 176 runs in the tournament was awarded the Player of the Tournament.