Nepal succumbed to a 25-run loss against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in their second match of the Oman Quadrangular Twenty20 International Series at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground in Muscat on Saturday.

Nepal, who had defeated hosts Oman in their opening match by six wickets on Friday, invited UAE to bat first as they posted a challenging total of 192-3. Chasing the target, Nepal were restricted at 167-5.

UAE opening batsman Chirag Suri contributed an unbeaten 84 to guide the team to a huge total. He hit five boundaries and sixes each in his 53-ball knock. Nepal had made an early breakthrough after opener Muhammad Waseem (22 runs) was caught by Dipendra Singh Airee off Shahab Alam in third delivery of the third over with 23 runs on board.

But player-of-the-match Suri and Rohan Mustafa, who contributed 49 runs, shared a 97-run stand for the second wicket. Mustafa cracked five fences and two six before being stumped by wicketkeeper Aasif Sheikh off his sibling Aarif in the 14th over. Basil Hameed, bowled by captain Sandeep Lamichhane, contributed 17 off 11 while Mohammad Botta remained unbeaten on 14 runs.

UAE managed to post the huge total courtesy of three expensive overs by Nepal bowlers as they collectively collected 62 runs. Apart from taking a wicket in the third over, Alam gave away 22 runs while Kamal Airee in the last over and Bibek Yadav in the 13th over conceded equal 20 runs.

Nepal used eight different bowlers against the UAE. Captain Lamichhane, Aarif and Alam picked a wicket each. Lamichhane gave away 23 runs in his four-over spell. Alam conceded 35 runs in his two-over bowling and Aarif gave away 17 runs in his two over spell. Kamal conceded 42 runs in his four-over bowling while medium pacer Jitendra Mukhiya gave away 25 runs in his three over spell.

Dipendra Singh Airee gave away 13 runs in his two-over spell. Sharad Vesawkar gave 16 runs and Aarif 17 runs, both of them bowling for two overs each.

In the run chase, Dipendra Singh Airee contributed 41 runs for Nepal. He hit five fences in his 33-ball knock before being caught by Mohammad Boota off Junaid Siddique. Though Nepal made a bright start to their chase with openers sharing a 53-run stand for the first wicket, they kept losing wickets on a regular interval once opener Gyanendra Malla departed for 22 runs.

The former captain Malla hit two boundaries and a six in his 19-ball knock before being caught by Muhammad Waseem off Kashif Daud in the sixth over. His opening pair Aasif contributed 34 off 29. Lokesh Bam, who marked his debut for the national side, made a decent contribution of 33 runs facing 21 deliveries. He hit two fences and sixes each. Vesawakar was not out on 10 runs

UAE bowler Rohan Mustafa and Kashif Daud grabbed two wickets each while Junaid Siddique claimed one scalp. Mustafa gave away 26 runs in his four-over spell and Daud conceded 39 runs in his four-over bowling. Siddique gave away 34 runs bowling for four overs.

In the late fixture of the day, Ireland edged Oman by nine wickets to inflict the host’s second defeat and open the series with a victory.

The series also featuring Ireland and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is played to fine tune the team’s preparation for the ICC World T20 Global Qualifiers set to take place in Oman from February 18 to 24.

Nepal will take on Ireland in the last match of the series on Monday while Ireland are scheduled to vie against the UAE in Sunday’s only fixture.