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Nepal becomes ACC Premier Cup champion in Asia Cup

Kathmandu : Gulshan Jha’s fifty inspired Nepal has qualified for the Asia Cup after defeating UAE by seven wickets in the ACC Men’s Premier Cup final. In the final which started on Monday and ended on Tuesday at the Trivi Cricket Ground, they scored a brilliant victory against the UAE.

UAE, who lost the toss and started batting, made a total of 117 runs before losing all the wickets in 33.1 overs. In reply, Nepal completed the target with 118 runs after losing three wickets in just 30.3 overs.

Gulshan, who came to the crease in one down for Nepal, completed his half-century in 75 balls. For Nepal, who lost both the opener and the captain cheaply, Gulshan batted with restraint and hit three fours and four sixes while scoring 50 runs.

Gulshan, who played the most important role in Nepal’s innings, remained unbeaten on 67 runs with three fours and six sixes in 84 balls.

Similarly, Bhim Sarki, who shared a 96-run partnership with Gulshan, also played an important innings. Bhim, who faced 72 balls for Nepal, remained unbeaten on 36 runs with four fours.

Captain Rohit Poudel returned to the pavilion along with both Nepal’s openers Kushal Bhurtel and Asif Shaikh, who struggled in the beginning. Kushal was dismissed for one, Asif for eight and Rohit for one run.

For UAE, Rohan Mustafa took two wickets with two maidens at the cost of 13 runs in 10 overs. Similarly, Ayan Khan took a wicket.

In the first innings, Nepal, inspired by Lalit Rajwanshi’s four wickets, bowled out UAE for 117 runs. The final, which started on Monday and could not be completed due to rain, started today from 9 o’clock in the same situation as it was stopped yesterday.

On Monday, UAE scored 106 runs in 27.3 overs and lost 9 wickets. Starting the innings from the same place on Tuesday morning, UAE managed to make a total of 117 runs before losing all the wickets in 33.1 overs.

Asif Khan top-scored for UAE with 46 off 54 balls with seven fours and a six. Other batters did not perform significantly.

Lalit, who bowled economically for Nepal, took the maximum four wickets with two maidens at the expense of 14 runs in 7.1 overs. Similarly, Karan KC and Sandeep Lamichhane took two wickets each and Gulshan Jha and Sompal Kami took one wicket each.

With the Premier Cup underway, Nepal has qualified for the Asia Cup to be held in Pakistan in September.

Nepal made it to the last four as the winners of Group A. After the match against Kuwait in the semi-final also became resultless due to rain, group winners Nepal reached the final.

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