Stats: 300 wickets for Sandeep, 1000 ODI runs for Gulshan and Nepal’s second title

KATHMANDU: Nepal defeated the United Arab Emirates by 44 runs in the final to win the ACC Men’s Premier Cup 2026 and qualify for the 2027 Asia Cup.

Here are the major records, achievements and statistical milestones from the 24-match tournament in Malaysia.

2 — Premier Cup titles for Nepal

Nepal became the first team to win the ACC Men’s Premier Cup twice.

They won the inaugural tournament in 2023 and reclaimed the title in 2026. The UAE won the 2024 edition, which was played in the T20 format.

Nepal have therefore won both editions contested as 50-over tournaments.

2 — Asia Cup qualifications for Nepal

The title secured Nepal’s second appearance at the Asia Cup.

Nepal qualified for the first time by defeating the UAE in the 2023 Premier Cup final. Three years later, they overcame the same opponents to book their place at the 2027 Asia Cup.

300 — International wickets for Sandeep Lamichhane

Sandeep Lamichhane completed 300 wickets in international cricket during Nepal’s semi-final victory over Oman.

His figures of 3/9 took him to 158 ODI wickets. Combined with his 142 T20I wickets, that brought up the landmark.

Lamichhane took another wicket in the final, ending the tournament with 301 international wickets—159 in ODIs and 142 in T20Is.

He is the first Nepal bowler to reach 300 international wickets and is the country’s leading wicket-taker in both formats.

30 — Premier Cup wickets for Lamichhane

Lamichhane also became the leading wicket-taker in ACC Men’s Premier Cup history.

His 17 wickets in 2026, added to the 13 he collected in 2023, took his competition tally to 30. He moved past Oman pacer Bilal Khan, who had taken 27 wickets across the 2023 and 2024 editions.

17 — Wickets in the 2026 tournament

Lamichhane finished as the leading wicket-taker with 17 wickets from six matches, equalling Bilal Khan’s record for the most wickets in a single Premier Cup edition.

The Nepal captain conceded 161 runs from 54 overs, averaging 9.47 per wicket while maintaining an economy rate of 2.98.

He took at least one wicket in every match. His returns across the tournament were 5, 1, 3, 4, 3 and 1.

2 — Player-of-the-Tournament awards

Lamichhane became the first cricketer to be named Player of the Tournament in two Premier Cup editions.

He received the award following Nepal's title-winning campaigns in both 2023 and 2026.

1,000 — ODI runs for Gulshan Jha

Gulshan Jha completed 1,000 ODI runs during his 52 off 38 balls in the final against the UAE.

Gulshan entered the match with 963 runs and reached the milestone when he scored his 37th run. His innings, containing three fours and four sixes, took his ODI aggregate to 1,015.

It was his sixth ODI half-century and came at a strike rate of 136.84.

147 — Nepal's lowest successfully defended ODI total

Nepal were bowled out for 147 in the semi-final against Oman but dismissed their opponents for 60 to complete an 87-run victory.

It was the lowest total Nepal have successfully defended in an ODI.

Dipendra Singh Airee scored 51 and Basir Ahamad made 47 after Nepal had slipped to 42/5. Lamichhane and Airee then took three wickets each to complete the turnaround.

60 — Oman's lowest ODI total

Oman’s 60 all out was their lowest total in ODI cricket, falling below the 65 they made against the United States in February 2025.

Jatinder Singh, who scored 25, was the only Oman batter to reach double figures apart from Jiten Ramanandi’s 13.

313 for 9 — Nepal's highest ODI total against UAE

Nepal’s 313/9 in the final was their highest ODI total against the UAE.

It surpassed the 289/7 they had scored against the same opponents in Kirtipur in May 2026. It was also Nepal’s third-highest ODI total and only the fourth time they had crossed 300 in the format.

Nepal struck 24 fours and nine sixes, giving them 33 boundary-scoring shots during the innings.

102 — Aasif Sheikh's second ODI century

Aasif Sheikh scored 102 from 106 deliveries in the final, completing the second ODI century of his career.

The opener hit eight fours and four sixes and shared a 97-run opening partnership with Arjun Kumal. He was named Player of the Match for setting up Nepal’s title-winning total.

582 — Highest match aggregate

Nepal's 313 and the UAE's 269 produced an aggregate of 582 runs, the highest combined total in a match during the 2026 tournament.

Rahul Chopra remained unbeaten on 100 for the UAE, but Nepal dismissed the rest of the side in 49.1 overs to win by 44 runs.

273 — Most runs in the tournament

Malaysia’s Virandeep Singh finished as the leading run-scorer with 273 runs from four innings.

He averaged 91 and registered three half-centuries, with a highest score of 98 against Bahrain.

117 not out — Highest individual score

Babar Hayat recorded the tournament’s highest individual score with an unbeaten 117 against Nepal.

Hong Kong had slipped to 133/7 before Hayat and Ehsan Khan added an unbroken 128 runs for the eighth wicket. Their partnership carried Hong Kong to 261/7 and set up a 15-run victory.

4 — Centuries in the tournament

Four centuries were scored during the competition.

Hayat made 117 not out against Nepal, Bilal Tahir scored an unbeaten 103 against Oman, Aasif struck 102 in the final and Chopra responded with an unbeaten 100.

Bilal’s innings was his maiden List A century.

6 for 14 — Best bowling figures

UAE left-arm spinner Haider Ali recorded the tournament’s best bowling figures with 6/14 against Hong Kong in the semi-final.

Muhammad Asim took 6/18 for Qatar against Singapore, while Akshdeep Nath claimed 6/21 for the UAE against Kuwait.

316 for 9 — Highest team total

Oman's 316/9 against Singapore was the highest team total of the tournament.

Nepal finished three runs short of the record when they made 313/9 in the final.

160 — Largest victory by runs

Kuwait recorded the largest victory when they defeated Singapore by 160 runs under the DLS method.

Nepal's biggest winning margin was their 87-run semi-final victory over Oman.

The champions won five of their six matches, defeating Bahrain by seven wickets, Malaysia by six wickets, Saudi Arabia by five wickets, Oman by 87 runs and the UAE by 44 runs. Their only defeat came against Hong Kong in the final group match.