Nepal has defeated Hong Kong by eight wickets in the ACC Premier Cup held at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground in Oman on Monday.
With this win, Nepal qualified for the semi-finals one match ahead of the final of the group stage matches. Nepal is now scheduled to play Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
Out of 10 teams, top two teams from each group will book berths in semi-finals of the ACC Premier Cup.
After registering an 8-wicket win over Hong Kong, Nepal is atop the points table with six points from three wins. Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Hong Kong have equal two points. After facing a defeat to Nepal, Hong Kong has a slim chance to reach the semi-finals.
Chasing the 114-run target set by Hong Kong, Nepal reached it in 12.2 overs losing two wickets.
Aasif Sheikh topped the score with three fours and four sixes off 18 balls followed by Kushal Bhurtel with 32 runs while Rohit Paudel and Sundeep Jora contributed 25 and 19 runs, respectively.
In reply, Ehsan Khan and Yasim Murtaza grabbed one wicket each for Hong Kong.
Earlier, invited to bat first after losing the toss, Hong Kong notched up 114 runs losing all wickets in 17.5 overs.
Anshy Rath made the highest score with 34 runs including four fours and one six off 26 balls followed by Zeeshan Ali with 14 runs while captain Nizakat Khan smashed 12 runs. Similarly, Ehsan Khan contributed 11 runs.
