Nepal defeated their arch rivals, the United Arab Emirates, in the final of the ACC Men’s Premier Cup at Bayuemas Cricket Oval in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Saturday to book their tickets to the 2027 Asia Cup.

The 2027 Asia Cup is being hosted by Bangladesh in June-July next year between six teams. Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan are the five ICC full members to directly qualify for the event. The remaining one spot is for the winner of the Premier Cup.

It is only the second time that Nepal will play in the Asia Cup, the biggest continental cricket tournament. The first time was in 2023, when the tournament was co-hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Nepal had qualified for it by defeating the UAE in the final of the 2023 ACC Men’s Premier Cup.

While Nepal’s 2023 Premier Cup title win over the UAE was a low-scoring grind—chasing down a 118-run target—Saturday’s final at the Bayuemas Cricket Oval was a display of sheer batting muscle.

It was only the third time Nepal had crossed the 300-run mark in one-day cricket while batting first. Nepal have never been defeated after posting a target of 300+.

Nepali opener Aasif Sheikh was the hero for Nepal with the bat as he smashed a much-needed century in the final. With four sixes and eight fours, Sheikh departed at 102 off 106 in 35.3 overs, leaving the team at 191/3.

Sheikh got a proper start with his opening partner Arjun Kumal contributing effectively from the other end. The duo was very close to completing a 100-run partnership for the first wicket. However, a misunderstanding between the wickets saw Kumal (43 off 63) run out, and the partnership ended at 97.

Ishan Pandey tried to find his footing as the new batsman. But he got caught behind in 26.4 overs after scoring 13 off 20. And then the wicket of Sheikh gave the UAE a belief that they were back in the game.

But Rohit Kumar Paudel and Gulshan Kumar Jha did not let the match go in UAE’s favour. The duo built a 67-run partnership for the fourth wicket before Paudel (40 off 44) departed in 44.3 overs.

When Jha departed—not before completing his fifty—in 45.5 overs, Nepal had already reached a defendable total: 273/5. Jha smashed 52 off 38 with the help of four sixes and three fours.

And some extra contributions from Dipendra Singh Airee (18 off 18) and Basir Ahmad (15 off 4) saw Nepal post a mammoth total of 313/9.

Ibrar Ahmad bagged four wickets for the UAE while Khuzaima Tanveer bagged two. Haider Ali and Adeeb Usmani also claimed one each.

Despite a challenging target to chase, the UAE were still optimistic. Their hopes did not seem to have been dashed even after losing opener Adeeb Usmani (6 off 10), in-at-three Akshdeep Nath (0 off 4) and other opener Tanish Suri (42 off 28) in quick succession. The UAE were 56/3 in 8.3 overs.

Skipper Harpreet Singh tried to get the team back in the chase, but his 33 off 41 was not very helpful. And when Aayan Afzal Khan (9 off 19) got caught out in 22.2 overs, half of the UAE’s batting lineup was back to the dugout. The UAE still needed 195 runs to win.

And this is when Rahul Chopra and Sohaib Khan came to the rescue. Chopra and Sohaib built an 87-run partnership for the sixth wicket, before the latter departed at 52 off 57. And when Chopra lost the supportive partner in Sohaib, he could not do much alone.

For his part, Chopra kept on smashing Nepali bowlers all around the park while his other partners did not last long.

As a result, the UAE lost their 10 wickets in 49.1 overs—with Haider getting stumped on a wide delivery as the last wicket—with the total at 269.

Chopra was still not out. Moreover, he was at 100 off 105. But the UAE fell short of 44 runs, and the Bayuemas Oval erupted in joy with hundreds of Nepali fans in attendance.

Despite winning the match comfortably in the end, Nepali players went through several disputes and debates with the Emiratis, making the match befit the title of “Associate El Clásico”.

The Rhinos are returning home with the trophy at 9:45pm today (Sunday) via Malaysian Airlines.