Kathmandu – Nepal has made a good start in ACC Premier Cup Cricket. Nepal defeated Malaysia by 6 wickets at TU Ground in the first match on Tuesday.
Nepal met the target of 236 runs given by Malaysia by losing 4 wickets in 2 balls in 36 overs. For Nepal, Bhim Sarki scored 71 runs, Kushal Malla scored 70 not out, captain Rahit Paidel scored 42 runs and Kushal Bhurtel scored 38 runs. On the bowling side, Muhammad Wakif, Rizwan Haider, Vijay Ani and Virandeep Singh took 1 wicket each.
Earlier, Malaysia won the toss and scored 235 runs after losing 9 wickets in the scheduled 50 overs after winning the toss. Malaysian captain Ahmed Faiz scored 76 runs and Virandeep Singh scored 46 runs. On the bowling side, Nepal’s Sompal Kami and Sandeep Lamichhane took 3/3 wickets. Similarly, Lalit Rajwanshi took 2 wickets and Gulsan Jha took 1 wicket.
Nepal will play the second match against Oman on May 8. Nepal will play against Saudi Arabia on May 11 at Mulpani. Likewise, Nepal will play a match against Qatar on May 14. The semi-final will be held on 16th of Baisakh and the final on 18th of Baisakh.
The winning team of the ACC premier tournament will get to play in the Asia Cup in Pakistan next September. The top three teams will qualify for the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup in July.
Group ‘A’ of Premier Cup has Nepal, Oman, Qatar, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia and Group ‘B’ has UAE, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Singapore and Bahrain. Nepal will play three matches at Kirtipur ground and one match at Mulpani.
