The Asian Cricket Council (ACC)´s draw released on Saturday shows that the Nepali team is with Hong Kong in Group A in the upcoming eighth edition. [break]
Singapore, Kuwait and Oman are also in Group A while the UAE, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Bahrain and Bhutan are placed in Group B.
In the last edition held in Malaysia in 2008, Nepal had defeated Hong Kong by 44 runs in the first match of the group stage. But Nepal´s hope of advancing to the semifinals was dashed by the UAE.
This time also, Nepal will face Hong Kong on the first day of the tournament on March 31. Nepal will take on Oman on April 2, Kuwait on April 3 and Singapore on April 4 in the group stage matches. The top two teams of both groups will advance into the semifinals.
The ACC has been organizing the Elite Cup every two years since 1996. Normally, the winners and runners-up get to compete in the Asia Cup. But this time around, the top two teams will not be able to compete in the Asia Cup due to the busy schedule of test playing nations of Asia, namely India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Nepal have participated in all the seven editions of the ACC Trophy Elite Cup. Nepal´s biggest achievement in the tournament was to reach the final in 2002 in Singapore, but they couldn´t play the Asian Cup. Besides that, Nepal have reached the semifinals thrice.
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