Kathmandu. Nepal has reached the semi-finals of the third edition of the Men's ACC Premier Cup. In their third match held today, Nepal defeated Saudi Arabia by 5 wickets and confirmed their place in the semi-finals.
Chasing the target of 191 runs given by Saudi Arabia, Nepal completed it by losing 5 wickets in 41 overs. Nepal's Isaan Pandey scored 44 off 59 balls, Dev Khanal scored 39 off 58 balls and Gulshan Kumar Jha scored an unbeaten 44 off 35 balls.
Ishtiaq Ahmed and Mohammad Atif of Saudi took 2 wickets and Mohammad Hisham Sheikh took 1 wicket.
Before that, the Saudi who won the toss and batted at Biomass Cricket Oval in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was bowled out for 190 runs in 49 overs.
Saudi Abdul Wahid scored 77 runs off 89 balls, Mohammad Abdullah Atif scored 30 runs off 68 balls and Mohammad Hisham Sheikh scored 28 runs off 50 balls.
Nepal's captain Sandeep Lamichhane and Dipendra Singh Airi took 3 wickets each, Lalit Rajwanshi took 2 wickets, Sher Malla and Gulshan Jha took 1 wicket each.
With this, Nepal has won the third match in a row in the tournament. Nepal is at the top of the table with 6 points in 3 matches and reached the semi-finals, while Saudi Arabia is still in the fourth position with 2 points in 4 matches.
In the competition, 10 teams are divided into two groups. The top two teams in the group will qualify for the semi-finals. The title team will be able to participate in the Asia Cup in 2027.
