KATHMANDU – Nepal has won the ACC Men’s Premier Cup, making its way for the Asia Cup.
In the final held at the Kirtipur-based TU Ground, Nepal defeated the UAE by 7 wickets to secure its place in the Asia Cup scheduled to take place in coming September. Nepal is to meet India and Pakistan who are in the group ‘A’ along with Nepal. Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are in the group ‘B’.
Chasing a target of 118 runs posted by the UAE, Nepal met it in 30.3 overs at the loss of 3 wickets. Gulsan Jha and Bhim Sakri shared 96. They contributed 67 and 36 respectively in the victory of Nepal. Jha hit six sixes and three fours in 84 balls and Sarki hit four fours in 71 balls.
UAE’s Rohan Mustafa took 2 wickets and Aayan Afzal Khan took one. Prior to this, the UAE invited to bat first after losing the toss, scored 117 at the loss of all wickets. Asif Khan hit seven fours and one six, making 46 for the team. Opener Aryan Larka made 13 in 28 balls.
For Nepal, Lalit Naryan Rajbanshi took four wickets followed by each two by Karan KC and Sandip Lamichhane and one each by Gulsan Jha and Sompal Kami.
The ‘reserve day’ game was the continuity of the yesterday’s match which got halted due to rains. The match was interrupted at 27.3 overs on Monday. The UAE had made 106 at the loss of 9 wickets. After defeating the UAE, Nepal aims to play Asia Cup for the first time.
