Sep 06, Kathmandu - Nepal defeated Saudi Arabia by 5 wickets in the third match of the ACC Premier Cup. Nepal has entered the semi-finals one match ahead of schedule with this win. Batting first at the Airamas Cricket Oval in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia was all out for 190 runs in 49.2 overs.

Chasing a target of 191 runs set by Saudi Arabia, Nepal achieved the target in 40.4 overs for the loss of 5 wickets.

Gulshan Jha played the highest unbeaten innings of 44 runs for Nepal. He hit 3 fours and 3 sixes in 35 balls. Openers Arjun Kumar and Asif Sheikh scored 15 and 20 runs respectively, while Dev Khanal scored 39 runs and Ishan Pandey scored 40 runs. Rohit Kumar Poudel remained unbeaten on 24 runs.

For Saudi Arabia, Ishtiaq Ahmed and Mohammad Abdullah Atif took 2 wickets each. Mohammad Hisham Sheikh took 1 wicket.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia's opener Abdul Bahid top-scored with 77 runs. He hit 10 fours and 2 sixes in 89 balls. Mohammad Atif scored 30 runs and Mohammad Hisham Sheikh scored 28 runs. Zain Abidin scored 12 runs, Mohammad Shakib scored 14 and Istiq Ahmed remained unbeaten on 10 runs. No other batsman managed to reach double figures.

For Nepal, Sandeep Lamichhane and Dipendra Singh Airi took 3 wickets each. Lalit Rajbanshi took 2 wickets while Sher Malla and Gulshan Jha took 1 wicket each.

Nepal had defeated Bahrain by 7 wickets in the first match and registered a 6-wicket win over Malaysia in the second match. Nepal will play its final group match against Hong Kong on Tuesday.