Nepal and Oman are in pole position for qualification for the men's T20 Asia Cup as they are the only unbeaten teams after day four of play at the ACC Premier Cup in Oman.
Nepal won their third group A game this morning against Hong Kong. Nepal captain Rohit Paudel won the toss and put Hong Kong in, with Abinash Bohara taking 3-29 as they were bowled out for 114, Anshy Rath's 34 the only score of note. Aasif Sheikh top scored in Nepal's reply with 40 from 18 balls as they chased down their target in 12.2 overs to win by eight wickets.
The other Group A match was reduced by early morning rain to an 18 over contest, with Malaysia batting first after Qatar won the toss. Ahmad Faiz top scored for them with 38 as Malaysia scored 151-5 from their 18 overs. Kamran Khan then top scored with 37 from 23 balls as Qatar secured a four wicket win with four balls to spare.
Rain reduced the afternoon game between hosts Oman and the UAE to a 15 over match, with the visitors put into bat. They recovered from two early wickets thanks to a 88 run partnership between Muhammad Waseem and Asif Khan. Waseem scored 45 before he was the third man out, whilst Khan went on to top score with 66 as UAE posted 142-5 from their 15 overs.
Oman then had little trouble chasing down their target, with Kashyap Prajapati (53 from 38) and Khalid Khushi (50 from 23) both posting unbeaten fifties as they chased down their target with 2.2 overs to win by nine wickets.
The other Group B match between Kuwait and Bahrain was also reduced to 15 overs, with Kuwait batting first and scoring 161-7 thanks to knocks of 54 by Meet Bhavsar and 40 by Bilal Tahir. Yasin Patel took 3-8 to prevent Bahrain getting a good start, and they were kept to 135-6, losing by 26 runs.
The tournament continues tomorrow with two more matches. Qatar play Saudi Arabia in the morning Group A match, followed by Bahrain taking on Cambodia in the afternoon Group B match.