Lamichhane took 5 for 14 in his first match as Nepal’s ODI captain, and Bahrain made 87
Sandeep Lamichhane’s ten overs cost 14 runs and took five wickets as Nepal opened their ACC Men’s Premier Cup campaign with a seven-wicket win in Malaysia.
Aug 31, 2026
Sandeep Lamichhane took a wicket with the first ball he bowled as Nepal’s one-day captain. He finished the morning with 5 for 14 from his ten overs, four of them maidens, and Bahrain were all out for 87 in 36.2 overs at the YSD-UKM Cricket Oval in Bangi. Nepal knocked off the runs in 21 overs and won by seven wickets with 174 balls to spare.
Ten overs, 14 runs, four maidens
Lamichhane was handed the ODI captaincy by the Cricket Association of Nepal in August, taking over from Rohit Paudel, and this was his first assignment in the job. An economy rate of 1.4 across a full allocation is the kind of return that ends a match before the halfway point of an innings.
Bahrain had been put in and never worked out where runs were supposed to come from. Fiaz Ahmed top-scored with 15 and Muhammad Wasim made 13. Lalit Rajbanshi took 3 for 20 and Karan KC 2 for 14, which meant three bowlers shared all ten wickets between them. Bahrain lasted 36.2 overs, so this was not a case of a side slogging itself out of the game either. Lamichhane was named player of the match.
The chase took less than half the time
Aasif Sheikh made 18 at the top. Arjun Kumal finished unbeaten on 36 from 58 balls with five fours, and Paudel was there at the end on 19 not out. Nepal lost three wickets getting to a target of 88, which on a total that small counts as untidy rather than worrying, and they had 29 overs in hand when it ended.
One place at the 2027 Asia Cup, and this is where it goes
Ten teams are in Malaysia for the ACC Men’s Premier Cup, which runs until 12 September across Bayuemas Oval in Kuala Lumpur and the ground at Bangi. Nepal, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are all in Group A. The competition has gone back to 50 overs after the 2024 edition in Oman was played as a T20 event.
Only the champion goes through to the 2027 Asia Cup. That single place is the entire prize, and it explains why a tournament between associate sides in Malaysia in September carries the weight it does. The UAE won in 2024 and took the qualifying spot at the 2025 Asia Cup. Nepal won the 2023 edition, beating the UAE in the final, and ended up playing India and Pakistan in Asia Cup 2023.
Group games run to 8 September, the top two in each group go into semi-finals on 10 September, and the final is on 12 September.
The holders and Oman have started the way they needed to
The UAE beat Qatar by 92 runs at Bayuemas Oval on the same day Nepal were winning in Bangi. Adeeb Usmani made 92 from 106 balls in a total of 263 for 9, with Sohaib Khan and Aayan Afzal Khan both making 41. Qatar were bowled out for 171 in 37.3 overs despite Imal Liyanage’s 70 from 82 balls, Haider Ali taking 2 for 25 and Khuzaima Tanveer 2 for 36.
Oman opened the tournament a day earlier with 316 for 9 against Singapore, Vinayak Shukla hitting 88 from 56 balls and Mujibur Ali making 71. Singapore were bowled out for 185 and lost by 131, Shakeel Ahmed and Hassnain Shah taking three wickets each. In the other match on 30 August, Hong Kong defended 273 against Saudi Arabia, who were bowled out for 257 with four balls left, and won by 16.
Four matches have been played and nothing is settled yet. What Nepal have is a leg-spinner who can finish an innings by himself, and he now picks the fields too.