Himal Press 
Match Facts:
Nepal: 119/9 (20 overs)
UAE: 123/4 (17.3 overs)
UAE won by six wickets (with 16 balls remaining)
KATHMANDU: Defending champion Nepal has crashed out of the 2024 ACC Men’s Premier Cup, conceding a six-wicket defeat to UAE in the first semifinal played at Al Amerat, Oman, on Friday.
Batting first, Nepal could score only 119 runs for the loss of nine wickets in the allotted 20 overs. UAE achieved the target losing four wickets with 16 balls to spare.
The Nepali top order collapsed miserably in the semifinal. Opener Kushal Bhurtel was out for a golden duck, while the other opener Aasif Sheikh fell after scoring eight off 11 balls. Nepal was reduced to 3-38 at the end of the 7th over after Captain Rohit Poudel left the field scoring five off 18 balls. Sandeep Jora’s half century gave some respectability to Nepal’s total. Jora played a knock of 50 off 40 balls which included four fours and two sixes. But he didn’t get support from the other end. Kushal Malla and Dipendra Singh Airee were out, scoring three and five runs, respectively. Gulsan Jha scored a 16-ball 20, while Karan KC scored 17 off 12 before he was bowled by Ali Naseer.
All six UAE bowlers took wickets in the match. Junaid Siddique, Ali Naseer and Basil Hameed took two wickets each, while Omid Shafi Rahman, Aaayan Afzal Khan and Mohammad Farooq had a wicket each to their names.
Although UAE lost opener Muhammad Waseem in the second over for 11 runs, the second-wicket pair of Alishan Sharafu and Vishnu Sukumaran disappointed Nepali bowlers by adding 42 runs. Sharafu remained unbeaten at 55 runs off 41 balls while Sukumaran scored a run-a-ball 28. Afir Khan and Syed Haider scored 10 and 14 runs, respectively, for UAE.
This was 10th T20I match between Nepal and UAE. UAE’s victory on Friday means both sides have won five each.
UAE will meet the winner of the match between Oman and Hong Kong in the final. The winner of the final will qualify for the 2025 Asia Cup.
