Kathmandu, April 27: Nepal became the winner of Group A by defeating Qatar by 68 in the last match of Group A under the ACC Premier Cup cricket tournament. Now, Nepal will face the runner-up of Group B to enter the final.
Pursuing the normal target of 158 runs given by Nepal for victory, Qatar scored 89 runs in 25.1 overs. Opener Kamran Khan was caught out for 8 runs when Sahib Ibrahim and Khurram Shehzad scored 15 runs for Qatar.
Similarly, while Qatar’s leading batsman Imaal Liyanage scored 6 runs, Amir Farooq was limited to 14 runs. Other batsmen of Qatar could not score runs in double figures.
Nepal, who performed poorly in batting, did well in bowling. Spinner Sandeep Lamichhane took five wickets in Nepal’s victory. Similarly, Sompal Kami took three wickets and Lalit Rajbanshi took two wickets.
Before that, Nepal lost the toss and scored 157 runs in 40.3 overs after losing the toss. Sandeep Lamichhane contributed the most 42 runs for Nepal. He played 58 balls and hit six fours.
Similarly, captain Rohit Kumar Paudel scored 27, Aasif Sheikh scored 19, Dipendra Singh Airee scored 12 and Sompal Kami and Aarif Sheikh scored 11/11 each.
On the bowling side, Quais Ahmed of Qatar took three wickets with 36 runs in 10 overs. Amir Farooq took four wickets while Munawira took 2 wickets and Ikramullah Khan took one wicket.
Nepal won 3 out of 4 games and shared points in 1. Nepal has reached the semi-final as the winner of Group A and has reached the top position with 7 points. In the semi-final match, Nepal will play against the runner-up of Group B. Oman finished second with 6 points from 4 matches with 3 wins and 1 loss and qualified for the semi-finals as group runners-up.
In Group B, UAE is at the top with 6 points from 4 matches with 3 wins and 1 loss. The match between Hong Kong and Kuwait continues at Mulpani Cricket Ground. After the result of the match, the winner and runner-up of Group B will be determined.
The semi-finals will be held on Saturday and the finals will be held on Monday. The team that wins the title will get to play against India and Pakistan in the Asia Cup.
