Bermuda was eliminated from World Twenty20 qualifiers after losing to Nepal by 21 runs at the ICC Academy in Dubai today.

Chasing 149 for victory, Bermuda were bowled out for 127 in 19.2 overs in a match they needed to win to keep their qualifying hopes alive.

Bermuda required 27 runs off the final over with last pair Jacobi Robinson (eight) and Kamal Bashir (four not out) at the crease.

Robinson gathered a four off the first delivery but was run out at the non-striker’s end on the next to hammer the final nail in Bermuda’s qualifying hopes.

After sending Nepal into bat and restricting them to 148 for eight, Bermuda’s run chase got off to a horrendous start.

Nepal’s new ball attack got on top of the batsmen from the outset and reduced Bermuda to 15 for four in the fourth over with openers Dion Stovell (two) and Kwame Tucker (0), Lionel Cann (one) and former skipper David Hemp (eight) dismissed cheaply.

Bermuda managed 27 runs during the six over powerplay with the mandatory fielding restrictions in place.

Led by a typically robust knock of 48 from 31 balls from skipper Janeiro Tucker, Bermuda’s middle order fought back.

Tucker, whose swashbuckling innings included five fours and two sixes, added 34 runs for the fifth wicket with Allan Douglas (14) and a further 31 with Tre Manders (19) for the sixth before he was bowled on the final ball of the 13th over to leave Bermuda 80 for six.

Manders and Kamau Leverock (12) added a further 20 runs for the seventh wicket to keep the scoreboard ticking over at just over six runs per over before both batsmen were dismissed in the space of four deliveries in the 17th over.

Bermuda’s lost their remaining wickets for 19 runs, Nepal securing the win that earned them a place in the playoffs with four balls to spare.

Seamers Jitendra Mukhiya (3-25), Auinash Karn (2-14) and Paras Khadka (2-23) were Nepal’s chief wicket takers. Leg break spinner, Shakti Gauchan (0-18), also bowled a tidy spell to keep Bermuda’s batsmen on the back foot.

Earlier, Bermuda did well in the field to restrict Nepal under 150 runs with Malachi Jones (2-18), Bashir (2-16) and Douglas (2-22) claiming two wickets each.

Tuker, who shared the new ball with Jones, was blasted out of the attack after leaking 20 runs in his first two over spell.

He was replaced by off spinner Stovell who was introduced into the attack in the sixth over and took only four balls to make the breakthrough without conceding a run. Stovell bowled his four overs unchanged to finish with figures of one for 27.

Like Bermuda, Nepal also struggled during the powerplay, scoring 38 runs with the fielding restrictions in place.

Bermuda made further inroads when Douglas, who also held three catches, picked up wickets in successive overs as Nepal slipped to 86 for three in the 13th over.

Nepal recovered, though, with middle order bat Gyanendra Malla smashing 39 from 22 balls, which included three fours and two sixes, to accelerate the run rate and carry the reigning World Cricket League Division 3 champions to an insurmountable total.

He added 29 runs for the fifth wicket with Binod Bhandari (13) and a further 29 for the sixth with Sharad Vesawkar (seven) before he was dismissed with two balls remaining in the innings.

Bashir capped an impressive international twenty20 debut by taking wickets in successive overs.

Jones claimed two wickets in successive deliveries after coming back for a second spell in the final over to place himself on a hat-trick. But he was denied the feat after Gauchan blocked a yorker pitched on leg stump.

Bermuda, who are currently seventh in group B, play Papua New Guinea in their final group match at the same venue tomorrow.