Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Nepal advanced to the final of the 2026 ACC Men’s Premier Cup by defeating Oman by 87 runs in the semifinal in Malaysia on Thursday.
Although Nepal folded for 147 runs in 45.4 overs while batting first, they bowled Oman out for 60 runs in 28.1 overs to book a place in the final against the UAE.
Earlier, the UAE defeated Hong Kong by seven wickets to book their spot in the final.
Nepal suffered an early top-order collapse and fell to 4/36 within 12 overs. Opener Dev Khanal made 13, while his opening partner, Mahamad Asif Sheikh, scored 11. Ishan Pandey, who made a fighting 90 in the defeat to Hong Kong in the previous match, was dismissed for one, while Rohit Kumar Paudel fell for three.
Basir Ahamad and Dipendra Singh Airee steadied the innings. Basir scored 47 off 88 balls, while Airee made 51 off 76. The other batters, however, failed to build on the momentum. Gulsan Kumar Jha fell for seven, Karan KC made only five, Sandeep Lamichhane scored three, while Sher Malla and Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi failed to open their accounts.
Jay Viram Odedara and Hassnain Shah picked up three wickets each for Oman, while Muhammed Imran claimed two. Shakeel Ahamad and Mujibur Ali took one wicket each.
Although opener Jitender Singh made 25 off 41 balls in the chase of 148, the other Omani batters fell cheaply as Nepal’s spinners strangled the Omani innings. Except for Jiten Ramanandi, who scored 13, no other Omani batter reached double digits.
Dipendra Singh Airee and Sandeep Lamichhane picked up three wickets each, while Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi and Rohit Kumar Paudel claimed two each.
Nepal will meet UAE in the final of the 2026 ACC Men’s Premier Cup, knowing that the winner will book a spot in the 2027 Asia Cup. The Asia Cup features six teams – the winner of the ACC Men’s Premier Cup and five ICC full members from Asia – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
