The ACC Premier Cup cricket final between Nepal and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was called off due to the downpour on Monday at TU cricket ground. However, the match will resume on Tuesday from the same scoreline.

The UAE were struggling at 106-9 after 27.3 overs before heavy rains forced the match referee to call off the game.

Sent in to bat first when there was a drizzle, the UAE struggled with the bat and lost wickets at regular intervals. The play stopped for a second time at around 11:50 NST and could not continue after heavy rains, for almost three hours.

The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) confirmed that the game had been called off and will resume on Tuesday. “Today's match has been stopped due to heavy rains. The game will continue from the current score tomorrow, which is a reserve day,” said CAN via its official Twitter handle.

However, rainfall is forecast for Tuesday as well. If the match continues and fetches a clear result, the winner will book a place for the Asia Cup final and rub shoulders against the world's cricketing giants India and Pakistan in September, in Pakistan.

But if the match is again interrupted by rainl and the game fetches no result or gets tied, the teams will play up to two super overs.

If there is still no result, the team that is seeded higher in the ICC rankings will qualify. Such a situation will mean Nepal automatically qualifying for the Asia Cup by virtue of its superior ranking. At present, Nepal ranks 14th and the UAE are placed 19th in the ICC men’s ODI rankings.

Nepali bowlers kept the UAE under pressure from the beginning, taking wickets at regular intervals. Slow left arm orthodox Lalit Rajbanshi claimed three wickets while leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane and medium pacer Karan KC took two wickets each.

UAE’s middle order batter Asif Khan was the highest scorer of the team, contributing 46 runs off 54 balls.

He hit seven boundaries and a six before Rajbanshi had him caught by Gulshan Jha on the second delivery of the 28th over. He then dismissed Zahoor Khan, caught by Arif Sheikh, for a golden duck off the following delivery before the play stopped. Rajbanshi, at the time, was on course for a hat-trick.

Medium-pacer Sompal Kami removed opener and skipper Muhammad Waseem for 11 runs. He was caught by Rajbanshi off the first delivery of the fourth over.

KC then removed Vriitya Aravind and Aryan Lakra on eight and 13 runs respectively, with 35-3 on board. Aravind was caught by wicketkeeper Aasif and Lakra by his sibling, Aarif.

Rameez Shahzad was the next batter to be dismissed for one run, caught by Rajbanshi off Gulsan Jha. Lamichhane then had Rohan Mustafa (2 runs) caught by Kushal Malla with 51-5 on board. Thereon, Basil Hamid (10 runs) was bowled by Gulshan Jha.

Sandeep Lamichhane took his second wicket after he had Aayan Afzal Khan (5 runs) caught by Malla. Karthik Meiyappan was unbeaten on one run and will pair with Junaid Siddique for the last wicket on Tuesday.

Rajbanshi gave away five runs in his 4.3-over spell that included a maiden over. KC gave away 26 runs in his seven overs, bowling a maiden, Lamichhane conceded 32 runs in his seven overs while also bowling a maiden over.