Oman made 60, Hong Kong made 70, and Nepal play the UAE for an Asia Cup place

Two semi-finals were played in Malaysia on Thursday and neither lasted the distance. Oman were bowled out for 60 in Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong for 70 in Bangi, and the ACC Men’s Premier Cup final on Saturday is Nepal against the United Arab Emirates. The winner takes the last place at the 2027 Asia Cup.

Nepal made 147 and it was plenty

Oman put Nepal in at the Bayuemas Oval and had them 36 for four inside 12 overs. What followed was a stand of 93 between Basir Ahamad and Dipendra Singh Airee that took the innings from a wreck to a defendable score. Ahamad made 47 from 88 balls, Airee 51 from 76, and once they were separated Nepal folded for 147 in 45.4 overs. Jay Odedra took three for 26, Hassnain Shah three for 28.

Then Nepal bowled, and 148 turned out to be a lot of runs. Sandeep Lamichhane’s six overs cost nine and brought three wickets. Airee, having top-scored, took three for 11. Lalit Rajbanshi had two for 12 and Rohit Paudel two for seven. Oman were 45 for six inside 21 overs and finished on 60 in 28.1, with Jatinder Singh’s 25 the only score above 13. Nepal won by 87 runs, and Airee, who also held two catches, took the match award.

Haider Ali took six for 14

The second semi-final in Bangi was shorter still. UAE put Hong Kong in, and after reaching 32 without loss Hong Kong lost three wickets for four runs. Haider Ali bowled his full ten overs for 14 runs and six wickets, two of them lbw. Aayan Afzal Khan’s seven overs cost six. Adeeb Usmani took two for 12.

Hong Kong were 50 for seven in the 20th over and were all out for 70 in 30.1, held up at one end by Kinchit Shah, who came in at 36 for four and was still there at the close on 11 from 61 balls. Extras contributed 11, as many as any Hong Kong batter but two. UAE knocked off the 71 in 11.1 overs, Tanish Suri hitting 27 from 25, and won by seven wickets with 233 balls unused.

One place, and the pair who contested the first final

The Premier Cup is now the only route into the Asia Cup for a team outside the ACC’s five full members. Bangladesh host the 2027 edition from 18 June to 4 July, it is a 50-over tournament, and six teams play in it. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are already in. The sixth place is what Nepal and the UAE are playing for on Saturday morning, and there is no consolation route behind it.

This is the third Premier Cup and the UAE have reached all three finals. They lost the first one, in 2023, to Nepal. They won the second, in 2024, against Oman, and went to the Asia Cup in 2025 as a result. Nepal’s win in 2023 took them to that year’s Asia Cup, where they lost to India and Pakistan and have not been back since.

How they got here

Nepal and Hong Kong both finished Group A on six points from four matches, and Nepal took top spot on net run rate: 1.531 against Hong Kong’s -0.005. Hong Kong had beaten them by 15 runs two days earlier, which made the margin more awkward than the table suggested, and Hong Kong’s reward for second was Haider Ali.

The UAE won all four of their group games, beat Oman by 49 runs in the last of them, and have not lost a match in this tournament. Nepal have lost one. The final starts at 7am IST on Saturday in Kuala Lumpur, with Hong Kong and Oman playing off for third at the same time in Bangi, for nothing in particular.

Follow the road to the 2027 Asia Cup