Najibullah and Nabi keep Afghanistan alive

Rahmat Shah and Najibullah Zadran came up with vital contributions as Afghanistan bounced back from three successive losses to register their first win at the World Cup Qualifers. The six-wicket win over Nepal with 11.2 overs to spare meant Afghanistan still have an outside chance to qualify for the Super Sixes.

For that, they will need Nepal to beat Hong Kong in their final group game on Monday. This would force a three-way between Afghanistan, Nepal and Hong Kong, with Afghanistan having a good chance or progressing because of a superior net run rate. However, they will not carry forward points (points are only carried forward for victories against the other teams progressing to the Super Sixes, and Afghanistan have lost to both Scotland and Zimbabwe).

Nepal's decision to bat first, seemingly with an eye on their opponents who haven't chased well so far in the competition, seemed justified when Paras Khadka, the captain, struck a 82-ball 75 at No. 3 to set up a strong platform. But with just one other batsman - Dipendra Airee - crossing 30, they were shortchanged. The innings came to a grinding halt in the final over, with Nepal collapsing from 105 for 1 to 194 all out.

Rashid Khan, the Afghanistan captain who went wicketless in his team's defeat to Hong Kong on Thursday, claiming three wickets. Mohammad Nabi, the offspinner, was also at it, slicing through the middle order to finish with 4 for 33. Sixteen-year-old mystery spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who had shared the new ball with Shapoor Zadran, picked up 1 for 24 in his 10 overs. Forty seven of his 60 balls were dots. In all, Afghanistan's bowlers bowled 193 dots.

Rashid promoted himself to open but fell in the sixth over to fast bowler Karan KC. Afghanistan were then steered by a 65-run second-wicket stand between Javed Ahmadi and Rahmat, before Sandeep Lamichhane, the legspinner, struck. When Airee struck three overs later, Afghanistan were wobbly at 111 for 3 and in dire need of a partnership.

Nabi brought his experience of 94 ODIs to calm down proceedings, while also knocking off runs quickly. His 34 came off just 32 balls courtesy two fours and a six. Najibullah, meanwhile, kept going. He brought up his second half-century of the tournament to see Afghanistan through.

Nepal have one game left to play in the group stage, and are still searching for their first win in the tournament.