Hosts Nepal defended a low total to beat Qatar by 68 runs to storm into the ACC Premier Cup semi-final as Group ‘A’ toppers maintaining their unbeaten streak at the TU ground in Kirtipur on Thursday.

Playing their last group match, the home team were bowled out for a paltry 157 runs in 40.3 overs, thanks to an unbeaten 42 by tailender Sandeep Lamichhane. The leg spinner also shone with the ball, claiming five wickets as Nepal bowled Qatar out for 89 runs in 25.1 overs.

Nepal will now meet Kuwait in the semi-final at the TU ground on Saturday after the Gulf side upset Hong Kong in a winner-takes-all contest in Group ‘B’, pulling off a 30-run win. Only the top two sides from each group in the 10-team tournament proceed to the last four.

The winner of the tournament will be assured of a place in the Asia Cup that features heavyweights of Asian cricket, including India and Pakistan.

Nepal, already assured of a semi-final spot, secured the top position in the group with seven points from four games, one point ahead of Oman. Malaysia, with four points finished third, Saudi Arabia (three points) fourth and Qatar finished at the bottom of the table.

In Group ‘B’, UAE secured the top spot, finishing on six points with three wins and a defeat and will now meet the Group ‘A’ runner up, Oman. Kuwait, which also wrapped up on six points, finished second on net run rate. Hong Kong (five points), Bahrain (three points) and Singapore (zero points) secured third to fifth place finishes, respectively.

Sent in to bat first, the home team were off to a shaky start and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Opener Kushal Bhrutel departed on two runs and number three batter Bhim Shakri was out for six runs with nine runs on board.

Opener Aasif Sheikh (19 runs off 27 balls) and captain Rohit Paudel were the key contributors for Nepal, Paudel scoring 27 runs off 36 balls. Paudel hit two fours. Sompal Kami (11), Aarif Sheik (11) and Dipendra Singh Airee (12) were other players to get into double-digit scores as Nepal were left struggling at 111-9 at one stage before Lamichhane's cameo lent some respectability to the team's final score.

Lamichhane, who came to bat at number 10, scored his runs off

58 balls, studded with six hits to the fence. He also stitched up a 46-run last wicket partnership with spinner Lalit Rajbanshi, who gave solid support to Lamichhane. Rajbanshi scored one run from 17 deliveries before Amir Farooq trapped him leg before wicket.

Amir Farooq claimed four wickets and conceded 42 runs in his 9.3-over spell, for Qatar. Owais Ahmed returned with figures of 10-0-36-3 and Gayan Munaweera 7-0-38-2.

Chasing the target, Qatar—who came into the match looking for their first win—failed miserably in the batting department. Opener Zaheer Ibrahim (15 runs off 23 balls), middle order batter Khurram Shahzad (15 runs off 28) and Amir Farooq (14 runs off 22) were the only Qatar batters to get into double-digit scores.

The player-of-the-match Lamichhane was the pick of Nepal’s bowling. He conceded 14 runs in his 9.1-over spell that included three maiden overs. Medium pacer Sompal Kami also grabbed three important wickets in his seven-overs of bowling. He conceded 24 runs and bowled a maiden. Lalit Rajbanshi, who made the breakthrough removing opener Kamran Khan on eight runs, pocketed two wickets. He conceded 27 runs in his five overs.

At the Mulpani Stadium, Kuwait, put into bat first, posted 272-8 and bowled Hong Kong out for 242 runs off the last ball of the innings.

Shiraz Khan and wicketkeeper-batter Usman Patel scored half centuries each for Kuwait and also put up an 84-run partnership for the sixth wicket. Khan contributed 67 runs off 95 balls, the highest of the innings that included four boundaries and a six. Patel scored 50 runs off 48 balls studded with six fours and a six.

Opener Adnan Idrees contributed a-run-a-ball 45 that included six boundaries and two sixes. Captain Mohammed Aslam (32 runs off 67 balls, Sayed Monib (31 runs off 14) and Bilal Tahir (not out 17 off 11), also made notable contributions.

Hong Kong’s Ehsan Khan grabbed three wickets in his 10-over spell, conceding 49 runs.

In the run chase, Hong Kong’s opener and captain Nizakat Khan scored 60 runs off 97 balls. He hit a boundary and a six. Aizaz Khan (49 runs off 55), Yasim Khan (a-run-a-ball 43) and Zeeshan Ali (24 runs off 32) were the other significant contributors for Hong Kong.

Kuwait bowler Shahrukh Quddus grabbed three wickets while Yasin Patel took two. Quddus gave away 27 runs in his eight-over spell while Patel conceded 35 runs in his 10 overs of bowling that included a maiden over.