Hosts Nepal were off to a flying start in the ACC Premier Cup with a six-wicket win over Malaysia after Bhim Sharki and Kushal Malla struck half centuries each with the latter remaining unbeaten at the TU ground in Kirtipur on Tuesday.

Opting to bat first, Malaysia posted 235-9 on the back of a half century by captain Ahmad Faiz in the curtain raiser of the event which would send the champion into the Asia Cup finals. Chasing the target, the home team made 237-4 in 36.2 overs after Sharki and Malla stitched a crucial 112-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

Nepal, pitted in Group ‘A’ along with Malaysia, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia will play against Oman in their next match on Friday.

“The winning start is really important for us as we gave continuity to the momentum we got,” said Nepal’s captain Rohit Paudel, referring to the team’s fairytale run in the ICC World Cup League 2 where Nepal won 11 among the last 12 remaining matches. “Sharki (Jonty) and Kushal played exceptionally well and we were hopeful that it would be easy to chase the target below 250 runs.”

Sharki said that he fulfilled the role assigned to him by coach Monty Desai. “He had assigned me to finish the innings and instructed me to take one ball at a time. I tried to follow his instructions,” he said.

The Malaysia captain struck 76 runs off 95 balls that included eight hits to the fence and a six. He also shared a 116-run partnership for the second wicket with Virandeep Singh. Leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane had him caught by wicketkeeper Aasif Sheikh.

Singh contributed 46 runs with two hits to the fence before Sompal Kami caught him off a Lalit Rajbanshi delivery. Khizar Hayat scored a 25-ball 22, Syazrul Idrus a 13-ball 21 and opener Muhammad Amir an 18-ball 17.

Nepal’s medium pacer Sompal Kami and leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane claimed three wickets apiece while Rajbanshi took two. Kami conceded 40 runs in his nine-over spell and Lamichhane gave away 48 runs in his 10 overs of bowling that included a maiden over. Rajbanshi conceded 34 runs in his 10 overs.

Chasing the target, Nepal lost opener Aasif Sheikh for one run and his partner Kushal Bhurtel for 38 runs with the scoreboard reading 53-2.

Aasif was caught and bowled by Muhammad Wafiq off the last delivery of the first over and Bhurtel struck four boundaries and two sixes in his 38-ball knock before Rizwan Haider had him caught by Khizar Hayat.

Coming to bat at number three, Sharki contributed 71 runs off 98 balls, the highest of Nepal’s innings, studded with five hits to the fence. He was caught by Virandeep Singh off a Vijay Unni delivery. Sharki also shared a 66-run partnership for the third wicket with captain Rohit Paudel who scored 43-ball 42.

Paudel struck five fours before he was caught by Muhammad Amir off a Virandeep Singh delivery. The player-of-the-match Malla played a quickfire unconquered knock of 70.

Malaysian bowler Muhammad Wafiq, Rizwan Haider, Vijay Unni and Virandeep shared a wicket each.

Hong Kong thump Singapore

In the Group ‘B’ match at Mulpani ground, Babar Hayat scored an unbeaten century for Hong Kong as they registered a convincing eight-wicket victory over Singapore.

Electing to field first, Hong Kong bowled out Singapore for 174 runs in 42.1 overs and raced to victory in 33 overs for the loss of two wickets.

Singapore opener Aritra Dutta scored 49 runs off 57, the highest of the innings, before he was bowled by Ehsan Khan. Middle order batter Aaryan Modi (21 runs off 58) was the second highest scorer for Singapore who lost other batters cheaply at regular intervals.

Hong Kong’s Ishan Khan grabbed four wickets and Yasim Murtaza picked up three. Khan conceded 23 runs in his 10 over spell with three maiden overs. Murtaza gave away 25 runs in his 10 overs.

Chasing the target, opener-cum-captain Nizakat Khan scored 51 runs off 89 balls and Hayat played an unbeaten innings of 108 runs off 94 balls. The duo shared a 132 run partnership for the second wicket before captain Khan was bowled by Aritra Dutta off the last delivery of the 31st over. Khan struck three boundaries and a six in his 89-ball knock. The player-of-the-match Hayat slammed 10 hits to the fence and six sixes.

Group ‘B’ consists of Hong Kong, Singapore, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Kuwait will play against the UAE at the TU ground in Group ‘B’ action and Oman will lock horns against Qatar in Group ‘A’ match at Mulpani on Wednesday.