Nepal finished their group stage on the summit after they defeated Saudi Arabia by six wickets in a rain-affected thriller at the ACC Men’s T20 Premier Cup in Al Amerat, Oman on Wednesday, thanks to spectacular bowling display from Karan KC and Abinash Bohara and a explosive batting from Gulsan Jha.

The win gave the Rhinos—who had already secured their spot in the semi-finals with a match in hand—a fourth victory in as many matches in the tournament, and eight points in Group A.

The outcome between Nepal and Saudi Arabia also sent Hong Kong to the last four as group runners-up after a convincing seven wicket win over Malaysia gave them an edge in the net run rate over rivals Qatar.

Saudi Arabia were tangled in a do-or-die match, and after Rohit Paudel invited them to bat first, Hisham Shaikh’s team posted a challenging total of 73-7 from their innings that was reduced to eight overs per side due to rain and wet outfield.

The Green Falcons lost both their openers Faisal Khan and Manan Ali cheaply for six and three respectively after KC stung them with his lethal pace.

But Abdul Waheed spearheaded the attack with a rapid 16-ball 37, smashing three fours and three sixes.

However, other Saudi batters could not carry the momentum against a tight Nepal bowling.

Lalit Rajbanshi dismissed Waji Ul Hassan for 3 next before Pratis GC got the prized wicket of Saudi Arabia dangerman Waheed.

Bohara then did the rest of the work removing Kashif Abbas for eight and Hisham Shaikh for two in the seventh over.

Saad Khan added five while Usman Khalid was not out on four when the innings closed.

In the chase, Nepal stumbled in the beginning as Ishtiaq Ahmad sent back Kushal Bhurtel for a duck with his second delivery of the innings and Usman Najeeb dispatched Aasif Sheikh for a cheap two.

Dipendra Singh Airee then took the bat and started aggressively hitting two straight fours from the first two deliveries off Usman Najeeb.

But Ahmad struck again to get rid of Kushal Malla for 2 that put Nepal in deep trouble at 15-3 in the third over.

Jha came to the crease next and seized the momentum back in Nepal's favour hitting a four and two sixes to Zain Ul Abidin to collect 21 runs from the fourth over, laying a solid foundation for success.

The duo then added 10 runs in the fifth over but Hassan broke their resistance taking out Airee, caught by Ahmad.

Airee scored 17 off 9 deliveries, that included three fours.

But Jha kept on and captain Paudel assisted him with a healthy muscle, smashing a four and a six, before Jha wrapped things up for Nepal with a four off Shaikh in the 7.2 overs.

Player-of-the-match Jha cracked two fours and two sixes in his unconquered 19-ball 32.

Paudel was not out on 7-ball 16.

Nepal’s semi-final opponents will be familiar foes the United Arab Emirates who progressed into the semi-finals as Group B runners-up.

Hong Kong face Group B winners Oman in the other semi-final clash.

The semi-finals will take place on Friday.