Nepal had got off to a flying start at the ACC Men’s Premier Cup, having won their first three matches. All of those fixtures were a cakewalk for the young Nepali squad. On August 31, Nepal bundled out Bahrain for a paltry 87 and chased it down with 29 overs to spare. On September 3, they overcame Malaysia’s target of 104 with 28 overs to spare. Three days later, the Rhinos defeated Saudi Arabia by five wickets.

Three wins in three games meant Nepal had already progressed to the semifinals. Therefore, Nepal were not under pressure to win the match against Hong Kong, China. For the latter, however, a victory was a must to qualify for the semis as one of the top two teams from Group A. It was hence expected to be a tough battle, the first real test for Nepal in the tournament so far. In the end, the Rhinos failed the test.

Nepal have never won against Hong Kong in the tournament. They lost by three wickets in 2018, by 43 runs in 2020 and by four wickets in 2024.

Nepal were able to register comfortable wins over Bahrain, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia thanks to their bowling prowess. Nepali batsmen did not really have to go through much trouble to chase the target. All the targets were below 200 in those three matches.

Perhaps buoyed by those wins, Nepal skipper Sandeep Lamichhane looked pretty confident before the match on Tuesday. “We are confident of chasing anything under 240,” Lamichhane said after losing the toss. However, Lamichhane and his team soon found themselves in an uncharted territory when Hong Kong posted 261/7.

Nepal’s experienced pacer Karan KC was on a roll in the first three matches, having picked six wickets in total. But KC struggled against Hong Kong, especially against former skipper Babar Hayat.

KC gave away 62 runs in seven overs, of which Babar Hayat scored 36. When Lamichhane gave KC’s remaining three overs to Gulshan Kumar Jha, he too gave away 40 runs in three overs, of which 29 were smashed by Hayat.

Sher Malla was the most economical of Nepali bowlers, bagging three wickets and giving away only 27 runs in his 10 overs.

Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi and Dipendra Singh Airee were also economical—but wicketless. Lamichhane, meanwhile, showcased a captain’s innings, claiming four wickets and giving away 44 runs in his 10 overs.

The match took a turn when Hayat made his return to the crease in the 19th over. Hayat, who was retired hurt in the 12th over, came back after Hong Kong lost their skipper Yasim Murtaza as the fifth wicket in the 19th over.

When Murtaza departed, Hong Kong were 80/5 at 18.6 overs.

From 80/5 in the 19th over, Hong Kong were 133/7 when Aizaz Khan departed in 30.5 overs. Before that, Hayat had lost his partner Shahid Wasif (45 off 49) as the sixth wicket in 26.2 overs.

Aizaz was the last wicket to fall for Hong Kong.

In the next 19 overs, Hayat, with a new partner in Ehsan Khan, not only completed his century but also stayed not out and took the team’s total to 261/7.

Hayat stood not out at 117 off 126, with seven fours and sixes each, with Ehsan (35 off 46).

Lamichhane’s statement during the toss suggested that he saw chasing anything above 240 as difficult. And it proved right, as the Rhinos could only accumulate 246 in 49.1 overs, that too with great difficulty.

The opening pair of Arjun Kumal and Aasif Sheikh started the chase with promise. Kumal (14 off 25) was caught in the gully at 8.3 overs. After that, Sheikh (44 off 50), Dev Khanal (6 off 20) and Rohit Kumar Paudel (3 off 14) departed in quick succession, leaving Nepal at 88/4 at 23.2 overs.

Ishan Pandey, who came in at four, was expected to build a quality partnership when Dipendra Singh Airee joined him for the fifth wicket. Pandey and Airee took Nepal’s score to 142 by the end of the 34th over, when Airee departed at 25 off 37.

Pandey was hoping for a proper partnership from the other end. But his partners—Jha (20 off 22), KC (21 off 13) and Lamichhane (2 off 3)—could not stay long.

And when Pandey was caught in the long-off by Hayat, in the spell of Aizaz, Nepal were out of the chase. Pandey departed at 90 off 106 at 48.3 overs.

Rajbanshi was the last wicket to fall at 49.1 overs, which saw Nepal fall short by 15 runs.

Aizaz picked four wickets for Hong Kong, while Murtaza claimed two. Ateequl Iqbal, Nasrulla Rana and Kinchit Devang Shah also took one each for Hong Kong.

Nepal and Hong Kong reached the next stage with three wins from four group fixtures each. Despite the loss on Tuesday, Nepal could still stay atop the points table with a better net run rate than Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, the Rhinos will not have the luxury of suffering another defeat when they play Oman, the second-placed team of Group A, in the semifinal slated for Thursday. Hong Kong will face the UAE, topper of Group A, on the same day.

Nepal will need to win the final if they want to qualify for the 2027 Asia Cup, which is taking place in Bangladesh from June 18 to July 4 next year. The Asia Cup will be a six-team event, for which five full members—Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan—have directly qualified.