Nepal will play the United Arab Emirates in the final of the ACC Men's Premier Cup on Saturday at Bayuemas Oval in Kuala Lumpur, with the winner earning a direct spot in the 2027 Asia Cup.
Nepal reached the final by defeating Oman by 87 runs in Thursday's semifinal at the same venue. Batting first, Nepal were bowled out for a modest 147 in 45.4 overs, but bowled out Oman for just 60 in reply. Head coach Stuart Law and ODI captain Sandeep Lamichhane had opted to send Dev Khanal in to open alongside Aasif Sheikh, a change from the tournament's earlier matches when Arjun Kumal had opened; Kumal was dropped for the semifinal and replaced by all-rounder Bashir Ahmad. In the other semifinal at YSD UKM Oval in Bangi, the UAE dismissed Hong Kong for 70 and chased the target down inside 12 overs for a seven-wicket win.
A rematch of the last time this happened
Saturday's final repeats, almost exactly, the circumstances of the 2023 ACC Premier Cup final: Nepal against the UAE, on Malaysian soil this time rather than in Kathmandu, with a maiden or repeat Asia Cup qualification on the line either way. In that 2023 final, played at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan University ground, Nepal chased down UAE's total of 118 for a seven-wicket win, sealing the country's first-ever berth at the Asia Cup.
Nepal and the UAE have built one of the most competitive rivalries in Associate-level cricket, having met 32 times across formats 19 One Day Internationals and 13 T20 Internationals with Nepal holding a narrow edge, having won 11 of the ODIs and seven of the T20Is.
What's at stakeThe 2026 ACC Men's Premier Cup, running from August 30 to September 12 in Malaysia, serves as the qualifying tournament for one remaining berth at the 2027 Asia Cup; the tournament's other participating spots have already gone to Full Member nations India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, who qualified directly. Ten teams Nepal, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and Singapore competed across two groups for the remaining spot, with only Saturday's finalists left standing.
For Nepal's cricket-following diaspora a significant audience across the Gulf states, where the UAE fixture in particular draws intense interest, and across Malaysia, where the tournament itself is being played Saturday's final is likely to be closely watched. A win would mark Nepal's second Asia Cup qualification through this exact pathway in three editions of the tournament.
