Nepal, Hong Kong, Oman and the UAE will be the four teams in the ACC Premier Cup semi-finals after the final day of the group stage today in Oman.
Hong Kong played in one of the two Group A matches in the morning session, with captain Nizakat Khan winning the toss and opting to bowl first against Malaysia. Ayush Shukla took 3-24 as the Malaysians were restricted to 140-9.
After losing both openers cheaply, Babar Hayat and Nizakat Khan added 109 for the third wicket with Hayat smashing 83 from only 35 balls before he was out. Khan scored an unbeaten 47 from 26 balls to help Hong Kong secure a seven wicket win in 12.1 overs.
That win lifted Hong Kong to second in the table, but they still needed Nepal - who had already secured their semi-final spot - to beat Saudi Arabia to book their place in then semis. A wet outfield on the neighboring ground had reduced that match to an eight over game with Nepal winning the toss and asking the Saudis to bat first.
Abdul Waheed scored 37 from 16 balls as Saudi Arabia reached 73-7 from their eight overs. Hong Kong would have been worried when the first three wickets for Nepal fell for just 15 runs, but an unbeaten 32 from 19 balls by Gulsan Jhan secured a six wicket win with four balls to spare, thus securing Hong Kong's place in the semi-finals.
Oman's place in the semis was secured when they took on Kuwait in the afternoon. Put into bat, they scored 200-9 from their 20 overs, Aayan Khan top scoring with 45 from 20 balls. Omani captain Zeeshan Maqsood scored 35 and then took 4-29 to keep Kuwait to 154-9 and secure a 46 win for his team to ensure they reached the semi-finals unbeaten.
By that time the UAE had already thumped Cambodia, bowling them out for 76 with Aayan Afzal Khan taking 3-7 before chasing down their target in just 5.1 overs to win by nine wickets, Muhammad Waseem clubbing 48 from 18 balls. The big net run rate boost had essentially secured UAE's place in the semis, but they still had to wait for that Omani win to be absolutely sure.
The teams will have a day off tomorrow before the semi finals on Friday. Nepal take on UAE in the first match, which will be followed by Oman playing the UAE in the second game.