The 2023 ACC Men's Premier Cup was a cricket tournament which took place in April and May 2023.[1] It was the inaugural edition of the ACC Men's Premier Cup, and it served as the final stage of qualification for the 2023 Asia Cup tournament.[2][3] It was held in Nepal,[4] with the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground and Mulpani Cricket Stadium hosting matches.[5] The winner of the tournament qualified for the 2023 Asia Cup.[6] The top three teams including also qualified for the 2023 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup.[7]
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| Dates | 18 April – 2 May 2023 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | Asian Cricket Council |
| Cricket format | One Day International |
| Tournament format(s) | Group round-robin and knockout |
| Host(s) |  Nepal |
| Champions | Nepal (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  United Arab Emirates |
| Participants | 10 |
| Matches | 24 |
| Player of the series | Sandeep Lamichhane |
| Most runs | Vriitya Aravind (454) |
| Most wickets |  Bilal Khan (17) |
The Asian Cricket Council announced the schedule for the tournament on 23 March 2023.[8] Bahrain and Saudi Arabia qualified to participate in this tournament as the top two teams in the 2023 ACC Men's Challenger Cup, where Saudi Arabia had beaten Bahrain by 10 wickets in the final.[9]
Nepal defeated United Arab Emirates in the final and qualified for the 2023 Asia Cup.[10][11][12] In addition to the two finalists, Oman advanced to the 2023 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup tournament after the 3rd place play-off ended with no result.[13]
Teams and qualifications edit
Following teams were qualified for the tournament.
| Means of qualification | Venue | Nos. | Teams |
|---|---|---|---|
| ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings | — | 8 | |
| 2023 ACC Men's Challenger Cup |  Thailand
|
2 | |
| Total | 10 |
Squads edit
Warm-up matches edit
13 April 2023
09:30 |
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Zeeshan Maqsood 69 (105)
Rizwan Butt 2/33 (6 overs) |
Sohail Ahmed 84 (104)
Bilal Khan 4/52 (8.2 overs) |
15 April 2023
09:30 |
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15 April 2023
09:30 |
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Rizwan Butt 47 (59)
Ilyas Ahmed 3/27 (6 overs) |
Parvindar Kumar 47 (36)
Waseeq Ahmed 2/23 (5 overs) |
Group stage edit
Group A edit
Points table edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | T | NR | Pts | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nepal
|
4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1.497 |
| 2 | Oman
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4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0.377 |
| 3 |  Malaysia
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4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.240 |
| 4 |  Saudi Arabia
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4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | −1.101 |
| 5 |  Qatar
|
4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1.056 |
Source: ESPNcricinfo
Advanced to the knockout stage
Fixtures edit
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- Malaysia won the toss and elected to bat.
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- Qatar won the toss and elected to field.
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Haseeb Ghafoor 40 (78)
Khizar Hayat 3/13 (10 overs) |
Muhammad Amir 56 (44)
Zain Ul Abidin 2/46 (8.2 overs) |
- Malaysia won the toss and elected to field.
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- Oman won the toss and elected to field.
- Adeel Shafique (Oma) made his ODI debut.
- Kushal Malla (Nep) scored his first century in ODIs.[23]
- Kushal Malla scored the fastest ODI century by a Nepali cricketer, in terms of number of balls faced (59).[24]
- Sandeep Lamichhane (Nep) became the fastest bowler, in terms of number of matches played, to take 100 wickets in ODIs (42).[25]
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Muhammad Tanveer 46 (84)
Ishtiaq Ahmad 4/46 (9.5 overs) |
Abdul Waheed 124 (108)
Ikramullah Khan 2/28 (5 overs) |
- Saudi Arabia won the toss and elected field.
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- Oman won the toss and elected to field.
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- Qatar won the toss and elected to bat.
- The match was reduced to 35 overs per side due to a wet outfield.
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Jatinder Singh 88 (79)
Atif-Ur-Rehman 3/80 (9 overs) |
Abdul Waheed 95 (86)
Bilal Khan 4/75 (8.5 overs) |
- Saudi Arabia won the toss and elected to field.
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- Qatar won the toss and elected to field.
Group B edit
Points table edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | T | NR | Pts | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Arab Emirates
|
4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2.468 |
| 2 |  Kuwait
|
4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0.223 |
| 3 |  Hong Kong
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4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1.031 |
| 4 |  Bahrain
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4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.019 |
| 5 |  Singapore
|
4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3.028 |
Source: ESPNcricinfo
Advanced to the knockout stage
Fixtures edit
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- Hong Kong won the toss and elected to field.
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Vriitya Aravind 185 (147)
Parvindar Kumar 2/45 (3 overs) |
Sayed Monib 68 (36)
Junaid Siddique 3/32 (7 overs) |
- Kuwait won the toss and elected to field.
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- Bahrain won the toss and elected to bat.
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- United Arab Emirates won the toss and elected to field.
- No further play was possible due to rain.
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Vriitya Aravind 174 (133)
Adwitya Bhargava 4/85 (8 overs) |
- United Arab Emirates won the toss and elected to bat.
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- Bahrain won the toss and elected to bat.
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- Hong Kong won the toss and elected to field.
Knockout stage edit
Bracket edit
| Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| A1 | Nepal
| 281/9 (42) | |||||||
| B2 | Kuwait
| 37/6 (8.3) | |||||||
| B1 | United Arab Emirates
| 117 (33.1) | |||||||
| A1 | Nepal
| 118/3 (30.3) | |||||||
| B1 | United Arab Emirates
| 236 (49.2) | |||||||
| A2 | Oman
| 190/6 (43) | 3rd place play-off | ||||||
| B2 | Kuwait
| 130 (31.3) | |||||||
| A2 | Oman
| 41/0 (6) | |||||||
Semi-finals edit
1st semi-final edit
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- Kuwait won the toss and elected to field.
- No further play was possible due to rain.
- Nepal advanced to the final on the basis of finishing higher in the group stage standings.[26]
2nd semi-final edit
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- Oman won the toss and elected to field.
- No further play was possible due to rain.
- This was the first ODI match to be held at this venue.[27]
3rd place play-off edit
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Jatinder Singh 26* (19)
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- Oman won the toss and elected to field.
- No further play was possible due to rain.
- Oman qualified for the 2023 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup on the basis of seeding.[28]
Final edit
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- Nepal won the toss and elected to field.
- The match continued from United Arab Emirates' batting innings at 106/9 (27.3 overs) on the reserve day due to rain.
- Nepal qualified for the 2023 Asia Cup.
Final standings edit
| Pos. | Teams | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nepal
|
Qualified for 2023 Asia Cup & 2023 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup |
| 2 | United Arab Emirates
|
Qualified for 2023 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup |
| 3 | Oman
| |
| 4 | Kuwait
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| 5 | Hong Kong
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| 6 | Malaysia
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| 7 | Bahrain
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| 8 | Saudi Arabia
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| 9 | Qatar
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| 10 | Singapore
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References edit
- ^ "Men's Asia Cup and Asia Cup Qualifier tournaments announced for 2023". Czarsportz. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
- ^ "Men's cricket team prepares for ACC Men's Challenger Cup 2023". Kuensel. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ "Saudi national cricket team arrives in Nepal ahead of 2023 ACC Premier Cup". Arab News. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
- ^ "Nepal to host ACC Premier Cup". Cricnepal. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- ^ "INVITATION FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST" (PDF). Asian Cricket Council. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ "Nepal open ACC Premier Cup against Malaysia". Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
- ^ "আয়োজক ঠিক না করেই চূড়ান্ত এশিয়া কাপের সূচি" [Fixtures of Asia Cup finalized without determining host]. risingbd.com (in Bengali). Retrieved 5 January 2023.
- ^ @ACCMedia1 (23 March 2023). "The ACC Men's Premier Cup – an integral part of ACC's new pathway structure gets underway on the 18th of April in Nepal. 10 Associate nations will battle it out for the title and the winner will directly qualify for the Men's Asia Cup 2023" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Saudi Arabia, Bahrain win through ACC Challenger Cup". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ^ "Rajabanshi and Jha secure Asia Cup qualification for Nepal". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
- ^ "Nepal qualify for the Asia Cup 2023". Cricnepal. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
- ^ "Nepal join India, Pakistan for Asia Cup 2023 after winning ACC Men's Premier Cup". India Today. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
- ^ "Nepal book India, Pakistan meetings at Asia Cup 2023". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
- ^ "Bahrain squad is gearing up for the 2023 ACC Men's Premier Cup". Bahrain Cricket Federation (via Instagram). Retrieved 9 April 2023.
- ^ "ACC Premier Cup: Hong Kong 'in a great place' as they name squad for Nepal". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
- ^ "Kuwait National Men's team led by Captain Mnm Aslam, coached by Muthumudalige Pushpakumara and managed by Mahmoud Abdullah in association with FRiENDi mobile Kuwait & powered by Al Muzaini Exchange Co. is all set to depart tonight to Kathmandu, Nepal for the Asian Cricket Council Asia Cup Qualifiers scheduled to take place from 18th of April onwards until the 2nd of May". Kuwait Cricket Official (via Facebook). Retrieved 13 April 2023.
- ^ "The National Team lineup who will be in Nepal for the ACC Men's Premier Cup 2023". Malaysian Cricket Association (via Facebook). Retrieved 11 April 2023.
- ^ "Final squad named for ACC Premier Cup". Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
- ^ "Confident Oman all set to take part in ACC Men's Premier Cup in Nepal". Times of Oman. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
- ^ "ACC Men's Premier Cup - Nepal". Qatar Cricket Association (via Facebook). Retrieved 19 April 2023.
- ^ "Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Premier Cup Squad – Singapore". Singapore Cricket Association. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
- ^ "UAE squad for ACC Premier Cup 2023 announced". Emirates Cricket Board. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
- ^ "Kushal makes his first century". Khabarhub. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
- ^ "Nepal thump Oman as records tumble". The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
- ^ "Sandeep Lamichhane fastest to complete 100 ODI wickets". Cricnepal. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
- ^ "Nepal and UAE through to ACC Premier Cup final". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
- ^ @CricketNep (29 April 2023). "Oman have won the toss and chose to bowl first against UAE in the first-ever ODI match to be held at the Mulpani Cricket Ground" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Oman through to ACC Emerging Teams Cup as rain decided third place play-off". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 30 April 2023.