Babar Hayat retired hurt on 13, and came back to make 117 not out
Hong Kong needed to beat Nepal to reach the ACC Men’s Premier Cup semi-finals. At 133 for seven they were nowhere near it, and Babar Hayat had already left the field once.
Sep 8, 2026
Babar Hayat walked off the Bayuemas Oval on 13 not out with Hong Kong 52 for two, and by the time he walked back in they were 80 for five. He was still there at the end of the innings, unbeaten on 117, having watched his side slide to 133 for seven and then dragged them to 261. Nepal, needing 262, were bowled out for 246.
Hong Kong had to win this one
Nepal came into Tuesday’s game already through, top of Group A with six points from three wins. Hong Kong sat third on four points and needed the two points to go past Malaysia. That is the pressure Yasim Murtaza’s side were carrying when they chose to bat and lost Anshy Rath and Zeeshan Ali inside the first ten overs, both bowled by Sher Malla on his List A debut.
Sandeep Lamichhane then worked through the middle order. Kalhan Challu, Kinchit Shah, Murtaza and Aizaz Khan all fell to the Nepal captain, who finished with four for 44. Shahid Wasif made 45 off 49 before Malla had him stumped, and Malla’s three for 27 from ten overs was the tightest spell of the innings by some distance.
Seven down for 133 in the 31st over, Hong Kong sent out Ehsan Khan at number nine. He and Hayat were not separated again.
128 in nineteen overs, and 105 in the last ten
The stand was worth 128. It started slowly, fifty runs off 82 balls, and then it stopped being slow. Hong Kong scored 105 in the last ten overs and did not lose a wicket doing it. Hayat was on 101 off 123 balls and took 16 more off the three balls he faced after that, finishing on 117 from 126 with seven fours and seven sixes. Ehsan Khan’s 35 not out off 46 was the sort of innings that does not make headlines and wins matches anyway.
Karan KC went for 62 in seven overs. Gulsan Jha’s three cost 40. Between them that is 102 runs from ten overs of a fifty-over innings, and Hong Kong’s total was 15 more than Nepal managed.
Ishan Pandey nearly took it away
Nepal were 69 for three in the 17th over, Aasif Sheikh gone for 44 and Dev Khanal lbw. Rohit Paudel made three. At 88 for four the chase was close to over, and then Ishan Pandey put on 54 with Dipendra Singh Airee and 49 more with Jha, and suddenly Nepal were 191 for six with seven overs left.
Karan KC hit 21 off 13 to keep it alive. Pandey was on 90 from 106 balls, six fours and two sixes, when Hayat caught him in the 49th over. Nepal needed 21 from nine balls with one wicket in hand at that point. Lalit Rajbanshi was lbw four balls later and it was done.
Aizaz Khan took four for 50, Pandey and Karan among them. Murtaza’s seven overs of spin brought two wickets for 33, and Ateeq Iqbal’s ten overs cost 27. Hayat, inevitably, was named player of the match.
Nepal still top the group
The defeat cost Nepal nothing where it counted. Both sides finished on six points from four matches and Nepal’s net run rate of 1.531 was never going to be caught by Hong Kong’s minus 0.005. Nepal top Group A, Hong Kong go through second, and Malaysia are out on four points despite beating Bahrain by 126 runs on Monday.
Hong Kong have had a strange fortnight. Sixteen runs against Saudi Arabia, a 32-run defeat to Bahrain, a tie with Malaysia settled in a Super Over, and now 15 against Nepal. Three wins from four and not one of them straightforward. The United Arab Emirates, who they meet in the second semi-final at Bangi on Thursday, have gone the other way entirely: four matches, four wins, a net run rate of 1.979, and a 49-run win over Oman on Tuesday to close out the group stage unbeaten.
Nepal play Oman in the other semi-final in Kuala Lumpur on the same day. Whoever lifts the trophy on Saturday goes to the Asia Cup in 2027, which is what makes a tournament in Malaysia in September worth this much to ten teams.