Muscat – Oman’s off-spinner Jay Odedra’s five-wicket haul ended in vain as the third-place playoff match of the ACC Men’s Premier Cup against Kuwait was abandoned due to persistent rains at the TU Cricket Ground in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Sunday.

The right-arm bowler ran through the Kuwait middle order to restrict them to a paltry 130 in 31.3 overs. Chasing a modest target, Oman looked good in their chase as openers – Kashyap Prajapati and Jatinder Singh raced to 41 in just six overs before rains forced the players to go indoors.

With rains continuing, the match was finally called off but despite the no result, Oman secured a place in the 2023 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup in July.

Duleep Mendis’ men made it to the Emerging Teams Asia Cup on the basis of finishing third in the Men’s Premier Cup as they had a superior net run-rate (NRR) than Kuwait after both teams had ended with six points in their respective group stage. Oman finished with an NRR of +0.377 as compared to Kuwait’s +0.223.

Earlier, a day after the disappointment of losing to the UAE in the semi-final narrowly, Oman bowlers proved their dominance as Kuwait batters floundered against the sharp attack.

Kuwait opener Adnan Idrees top-scored with 34 and a late cameo from Sayed Monib, who hit 28 off 10 balls including five fours and a six helped the team cross 100-run mark.

Odedra returned with sensational figures of 5.3-1-14-5 and was on a hat-trick after dismissing Clinto Anto and Shiraz Khan off successive deliveries in the 26th over of the match. He then went on to pick three more as Kuwait crumbled to 130. Bilal Khan picked up two early wickets while skipper Zeeshan Maqsood, Ayaan Khan and Jatinder Singh also took a wicket apiece.

Prajapati was unbeaten on 13 while Jatinder was at the crease on 19-ball 26 when the match was called off.

The 2023 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup will be the fifth edition of the event and is scheduled to be held in July 2023. The eight teams in the tournament are the A teams from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and the top-three teams from the 2023 ACC Men’s Premier Cup.

On Monday, hosts Nepal will take on UAE in the final with the winner qualifying for the Asia Cup.