| Dates | 29 August – 6 September 2018 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | Asian Cricket Council |
| Cricket format | One Day International and Limited overs (50–over) |
| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin and final |
| Host(s) |  Malaysia |
| Champions |  Hong Kong (1st title) |
| Participants | 6 |
| Matches | 16 |
| Player of the series |  Ahmed Raza[1] |
| Most runs | Ashfaq Ahmed (224) |
| Most wickets | Ahmed Raza (16) |
← 2016 2022 → | |
The 2018 Asia Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament that was held in Malaysia from 29 August to 6 September 2018.[2] The event served as the qualifier for the 2018 Asia Cup.[3][4][5] The top two teams from the group stage met in the final, with the winner progressing to the 2018 Asia Cup.[6] The fixture between the United Arab Emirates and Nepal on 30 August 2018 was a One Day International (ODI) match.[7] It was the first time both sides had played each other in an ODI match, with the UAE going on to win the fixture by 78 runs.[8]
The United Arab Emirates finished top of the group stage with eight points. They were joined in the final by Hong Kong, who finished second with seven points, and a better net run rate than Oman, who also finished with seven points.[9][10] Hong Kong won the final, beating the UAE by two wickets, to qualify for the 2018 Asia Cup.[11][12] Hong Kong's captain, Anshuman Rath, said afterwards that "all the hard work that has gone in this tournament over the last couple of months really has paid off".[13]
The following teams and squads were selected to take part:[5]
| Hong Kong[14]
|
Malaysia[15]
|
 Nepal[16]
|
 Oman[17]
|
 Singapore[18]
|
United Arab Emirates[19]
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Prior to the tournament, Anshuman Rath replaced Babar Hayat as captain of Hong Kong.[20] Jhathavedh Subramanyan was ruled out of Hong Kong's squad with injury, and was replaced by Aftab Hussain.[21]
| Pos | Team
|
Pld | W | L | T | NR | Pts | NRR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Arab Emirates
|
5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1.289 | Advanced to the final |
| 2 | Hong Kong (Q)
|
5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1.530 | |
| 3 | Oman
|
5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0.583 | |
| 4 | Nepal
|
5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | −0.250 | |
| 5 | Malaysia
|
5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | −0.995 | |
| 6 | Singapore
|
5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | −2.175 |
29 August 2018 |
Hong Kong |
v |
|
Babar Hayat 58 (58) |
Shafiq Sharif 49 (63) |
Malaysia won by 3 wickets |
29 August 2018 |
Nepal |
v |
|
Sagar Pun 83 (84) |
Khawar Ali84* (96) |
Oman won by 7 wickets |
29 August 2018 |
United Arab Emirates |
v |
|
Chirag Suri 111 (124) |
Chetan Suryawanshi51* (64) |
United Arab Emirates won by 215 runs |
30 August 2018 |
United Arab Emirates |
v |
|
Chirag Suri 65 (91) |
Subash Khakurel 50 (97) |
United Arab Emirates won by 78 runs |
30 August 2018 |
Singapore |
v |
|
Abhiraj Singh 42 (71) |
Kinchit Shah47* (72) |
Hong Kong won by 5 wickets |
30 August 2018 |
Malaysia |
v |
|
Virandeep Singh74* (110) |
Ajay Lalcheta44* (58) |
Oman won by 2 wickets |
1 September 2018 |
Singapore |
v |
|
Anish Paraam 77 (93) |
Aqib Ilyas 108 (71) |
Oman won by 8 wickets |
1 September 2018 |
Nepal |
v |
|
Aarif Sheikh64* (48) |
Syed Aziz 34 (25) |
Nepal won by 19 runs |
1 September 2018 |
Hong Kong |
v |
|
Babar Hayat 107 (105) |
Rohan Mustafa 33 (42) |
Hong Kong won by 182 runs |
2 September 2018 |
Oman |
v |
|
Mohammad Nadeem 54 (93) |
Christopher Carter14* (21) |
No result |
2 September 2018 |
Malaysia |
v |
|
Sharvin Muniandy 16 (21) |
Rohan Mustafa38* (26) |
United Arab Emirates won by 8 wickets |
2 September 2018 |
Singapore |
v |
|
Chetan Suryawanshi 60 (88) |
Anil Sah 43 (32) |
Nepal won by 4 wickets |
4 September 2018 |
Singapore |
v |
|
Anish Paraam 100 (95) |
Shafiq Sharif 93 (101) |
Singapore won by 29 runs |
4 September 2018 |
United Arab Emirates |
v |
|
Rohan Mustafa 71 (104) |
Aqib Ilyas 43 (43) |
United Arab Emirates won by 13 runs |
4 September 2018 |
Nepal |
v |
|
Aarif Sheikh 18 (53) |
Anshuman Rath 52 (81) |
Hong Kong won by 3 wickets |
6 September 2018 |
United Arab Emirates |
v |
|
Ashfaq Ahmed 79 (51) |
Nizakat Khan 38 (20) |
Hong Kong won by 2 wickets (DLS method) |
|
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|---|---|
Preceding season: International cricket in 2018 | |
| September 2018 |
|
| October 2018 |
|
| November 2018 |
|
| December 2018 |
|
| January 2019 |
|
| February 2019 |
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| March 2019 |
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| April 2019 |
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| Ongoing |
|
Following season: International cricket in 2019 | |
