Nepal overcome Saudi Arabia by five wickets to reach Premier Cup semi-finals

KATHMANDU: Nepal defeated Saudi Arabia by five wickets in the ACC Men's Premier Cup at the Bayuemas Cricket Oval on Sunday, completing a 191-run chase with nine overs to spare.

Nepal reached 193/5 in 41 overs, sealing their third consecutive victory with 54 balls to spare and confirming their place in the semi-finals from the group A.

Gulshan Jha led the chase with an unbeaten 44 off 35 balls, hitting three fours and three sixes. He also claimed one wicket and was named Player of the Match.

Rohit Paudel supported him with an unbeaten 24 off 37 deliveries. Dev Khanal contributed 39 off 58 balls, Ishan Pandey scored 40 off 59 and Aasif Sheikh added 20 off 23.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia were bowled out for 190 in 49.2 overs after winning the toss and electing to bat.

Abdul Wahid top-scored with 77 off 89 balls, while Mohammad Abdullah Atif made 30 and Mohammad Hisham Shaikh contributed 28.

Sandeep Lamichhane led Nepal's bowling attack with 3/19 from 10 overs. Dipendra Singh Airee also claimed three wickets, while Lalit Rajbanshi returned 2/26 from his 10 overs.

The victory kept Nepal unbeaten at the top of Group A with six points from three matches. They had previously defeated Bahrain by seven wickets and Malaysia by six wickets.

Nepal will face Hong Kong in their final group-stage match on September 8. With their semi-final place already secured, the match will determine Nepal’s final position in Group A.