Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Captain Sandeep Lamichhane’s devastating bowling helped Nepal make a winning start to the ACC Men’s Premier Cup.
In the tournament opener in Malaysia on Monday, Nepal defeated Bahrain by seven wickets.
Fielding first, Nepal bowled out Bahrain for 87 in 36.2 overs. In reply, they scored 88 for the loss of three wickets in 21 overs.
Only three batters reached double figures for Bahrain, with Fiaz Ahmed finishing as the top scorer with a run-a-ball 15. Muhammad Wasim made 13. Nepali bowlers gave away 12 extra runs.
Lamichhane claimed five wickets, giving away just 14 runs in his 10-over spell. Lalit Rajbanshi picked up three, while Karan KC had two wickets to his name.
Openers Arjun Kumal and Aasif Sheikh added 39 runs for the first wicket for Nepal. Kumal remained not out at 36, while Aasif Sheikh scored 18. Dev Khanal was out for 10, while Ishan Pandey was run out for just one run. Rohit Paudel scored an unbeaten 19 off 14 balls to take Nepal home in 14 overs.
Imran Anwar took two wickets for Bahrain.
The ACC Men’s Premier Cup features 10 teams divided into two groups of five teams each. Nepal is in Group A together with Bahrain, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and hosts Malaysia.
Similarly, Group B features Oman, Singapore, Kuwait, Qatar and UAE.
The winner of the ACC Men’s Premier Cup directly qualifies for the 2027 Men’s Asia Cup to be hosted by Bangladesh.
