Nepal are set to play against Kuwait in the semi-final of the ACC Men’s Premier Cup on Saturday. The match starts at 9:00 AM (NST) at TU Cricket Ground. Meanwhile, Oman and UAE will battle in the second semi-final at Mulpani Cricket Ground.
With Nepal playing a crucial match at TU Cricket Ground on holiday, the ground is expected to be full of spectators. Nepal has the chance to confirm their seat in Emerging Team’s Asia Cup in August. Premier Cup’s top three teams will join India A, Pakistan A, Srilanka A, Bangladesh A, and Afghanistan A in the tournament.
The winner of ACC Premier Cup will have the advantage of featuring in both the Asia Cup and the Emerging Team’s Asia Cup.
There is a good chance of rain between 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM in Kirtipur. If no match is possible, then Nepal will advance to the final as the team with a higher group stage finish wins.
Nepal is the only undefeated team in the tournament so far. They started the tournament with a win against Malaysia, followed by a record-breaking victory against Oman in the team’s 50th ODI match. The third match against Saudi Arabia was washed out by the rain, and Nepal rattled Qatar in the final group-stage match.
Meanwhile, Kuwait faced a 143-run defeat against UAE in the first match and bounced back well to win the remaining three matches. They stunned Hong Kong by 30 runs in the device match to book a semi-final spot.
Nepal is likely to make one change in the playing XI. They will probably bring in Karan KC for Gulshan Jha in order to strengthen the bowling attack.
Nepal’s probable XI: Aasif Sheikh, Kushal Bhurtel, Bhim Sharki, Rohit Paudel, Kushal Malla, Aarif Sheikh, Dipendra Singh Airee, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi
