Nepal crashed to a shock five-run defeat at the hands of United Arab Emirates (UAE) in their third match of the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Asia Qualifiers at the Asian Institute of Technology grounds in Bangkok, Thailand, on Thursday.

Batting first, UAE recovered from a precarious position to reach 79-7 in 20 overs. Nepal could only manage 74 for the loss of nine wickets after they failed to score 15 runs required from the last 18 deliveries. The result was a massive blow for Nepal who are in danger of losing a spot in next year’s ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Global Qualifiers to be held in the Netherlands.

The top two teams after the round robin league meet in the final and book tickets to Global Qualifiers. Nepal have two points after their first two matches—against Thailand and Hong Kong—were washed out due to rain. While Hong Kong and Thailand lead the table with five points each, the UAE are up next with four points. Malaysia are fourth with Nepal and China behind them.

In the match on Thurday, Nepal were already in a terrible position during their chase losing opener Sita Rana Magar (seven), Indu Berma (duck) and Nary Thapa (naught) inside the first three overs with just 11 runs on the board. Another opener Jyoti Pandey and Kajol Shrestha (eight) offered resistance adding 16 runs for the fourth wicket.

Pandey made 12 from 15 balls with a boundary. Shrestha and new batswoman Sarita Magar managed to defy the UAE bowlers but their sluggish partnership fetched Nepal just 12 runs in 35 deliveries. The collapse resumed with the dismissal of Sarita, Shrestha and skipper Rubina Chhetri (duck) in a space of two runs.

Karuna Bhandari (six) couldn’t do much as her dismissal left Nepal reeling at 55-8. Ritu Kanoujiya and Roma Thapa (three) kept Nepal in the game with an 18-run stand for the ninth wicket. Nepal collected three runs each in the 18th, 19th and 20th overs to fall five runs short.

Kanoujiya top scored for Nepal with 22 runs from 23 deliveries hitting two boundaries. Nisha Ali and Humaria Tasneem did most of the damage to Nepal as they picked up two wickets each and conceded just 20 runs in their collective eight overs.

Earlier, Nepal had a dream start reducing the UAE to 10-4 inside four overs. Opener ER Oza and NM Cherriath rescued the UAE with a 27-run fifth wicket stand.

Former skipper Nary Thapa then removed Oza but the UAE revivied their innings again through Cherriath and player-of-the-match Ali (17). The two batswomen added 33 runs for the sixth wicket taking the UAE to a winning total.

Cherriath scored 23 from 42 balls and Oza was their next best scorer with 22 runs from 27 balls hitting two boundaries. Skipper Chhetri took 3-12 from four overs and Kanoujiya gave an allround display taking 2-9 from three overs. Nepal will now play Malaysia in their fourth match on Friday.

Summary

UAE 79-7 in 20 overs (NM Cherriath 23, ER Oza 22; R Chhetri 3-12, R Kanoujiya 2-9) beat Nepal 74-7 in 20 overs (R Kanoujiya 22 not out, J Pandey 12; N Ali 2-10, H Tasneem 2-10) by five runs

Player-of-the-match: N Ali (UAE)