Kathmandu. Nepal has won the ACC Premier Cup title by defeating the UAE by 44 runs. With this victory, Nepal has also qualified for the upcoming Asia Cup.
This marks the second time Nepal has reached the Asia Cup; the team previously qualified by winning the championship in 2023.
Chasing a target of 314 runs set by Nepal at the Bayuemas Oval in Malaysia on Saturday, the UAE was bowled out for 269 runs in 49.1 overs.
UAE's Rahul Chopra played an unbeaten century, scoring 100 runs off 105 balls, including four sixes and three fours. Sohaib Khan scored 52, Tanish Suri 42, captain Harpreet Singh Bhatia 33, and Khuzaima Tanveer 15. Rahul and Sohaib shared an 87-run partnership for the sixth wicket.
For Nepal, Karan KC took three wickets. Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi claimed two wickets, while Dipendra Singh Airee, Rohit Kumar Paudel, Gulshan Kumar Jha, Bashir Ahmed, and captain Sandeep Lamichhane took one wicket each.
Earlier, Nepal won the toss and elected to bat first, scoring 313 runs for the loss of nine wickets in the allotted 50 overs. Aasif Sheikh was the top scorer for Nepal, playing a magnificent innings of 102 runs off 106 balls, featuring eight fours and four sixes.
Gulshan Kumar Jha scored 52 runs off 38 balls, hitting four sixes and three fours. Other contributors included Arjun Kumal (43), Rohit Kumar Paudel (40), Dipendra Singh Airee (18), Bashir Ahmed (unbeaten 15), and Ishan Pandey (13). Aasif Sheikh and Arjun Kumal gave Nepal a strong start by sharing a 97-run partnership for the first wicket.
For the UAE, Ibrar Ahmed took four wickets, Khuzaima Tanvir claimed two, and Haider Ali and Adib Usmani took one wicket each.
The Asia Cup is scheduled to be held in Bangladesh next year.
