Nepal take on in-form hosts United Arab Emirates (UAE) in their second UAE Triangular Series of the ICC World Cup League 2 match in Dubai on Friday.

Both the sides come at the ICCA Academy Ground with victories over Papua New Guinea (PNG) in their first games of the Series, being played in double header format. While the UAE registered a thumping seven-wicket win over PNG in their opening match on Tuesday, Nepal snatched a hard-earned four two-wicket win over the same opponents on Wednesday.

UAE are second in the seven team standings with 18 points from 15 games while Nepal are sixth with 10 points after nine games. PNG, without a win after 14 matches, sit rock bottom.

Oman lead the standings with 36 points from 28 matches. Scotland are third with 16 points from 12 games, Namibia are fourth on 14 points from as many games and the United States, also with 14 points, are fifth from 16 matches. The top three teams at the end of the league will book their places in World Cup Qualifiers.

Nepal and the UAE have played four one-day internationals in the past and both the sides have won two games each. In their last two games, Nepal defeated the UAE by four wickets and then by 145 runs in January 2019.

But the UAE are recently at their best form. They were the major hurdle in Nepal's ambition of realising World T20 dream. The UAE defeated Nepal in the semi-finals by 68 runs that ended the Rhinos’ hopes of reaching the World Cup finals for the first time since 2014. The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is scheduled to be played in October and November in Australia.

Nepal, meanwhile, have struggled for consistency especially in the batting department in the long format of the game in the past couple of months. In their Sri Lanka tour before leaving for the UAE, Nepal played four matches with the local teams. Though they won three among them, Nepal's batting woes were evident. Nepal failed to play for 50 overs in all four practice matches.

Against PNG as well, Nepal struggled with the bat before pulling off victory in the last over thriller. Nepal's unpredictable opening and top order batting has been the main concern.

Openers Kushal Burtel and Aasif Sheikh departed for just one run and 16 runs while No 3 and No 4 batters Gyanendra Malla and Dipendra Singh Airee could only manage four and eight runs respectively.

Nepal are likely to give continuity to the same opening pair of Bhurtel and Sheikh against the UAE. Middle order batsman Rohit Paudel is likely to replace Malla, who has been consistently struggling with the bat, at top order. All-rounder Dipendra Singh Airee, Arif Sheikh, Bhim Shakri and Karan KC are among other batters likely to get their place in the starting XI.

Captain Sandeep Lamichhane will spearhead Nepal's bowling attack. Pacer Sompal Kami, who claimed three wickets against PNG, and Bikram Sob will likely start against the UAE.

The match will kick off at 11:15 NST.