The UAE defeated Nepal by six wickets at TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, Kathmandu, on Monday. This was Nepal’s first international match at the revamped and floodlit stadium, known as the ‘home of Nepali cricket’.

The match, however, was interrupted by rain. Nepal were 122/8 at 18.5 overs when the covers came up to protect the ground after rain at around 6:45pm. Skipper Dipendra Singh Airee, who was captaining Nepal’s T20I side for the first time, was at 32 off 35, with Sandeep Lamichhane (2 off 4), when the umpires asked the players to leave the field.

Nepal won the toss and batted first. They lost wickets in quick succession and put together a rather underwhelming performance, unbefitting for a team that defeated the West Indies and pushed South Africa and England to the brink.

Kushal Bhurtel (16 off 9), Arjun Saud (13 off 11), Kushal Malla (17 off 21), Basir Ahmad (14 off 11) and Nandan Yadav (13 off 7) showed some fight at the beginning but it was not enough.

Muhammad Zuhaib bagged three wickets while Junaid Siddique picked two for the UAE. Haider Ali and Muhammad Arfan took one each.

As the rain continued, a notice arrived: the cutoff time was 8:10pm with 30 minutes of extra time. But before 8pm, the rain had stopped, the groundstaff had prepared the ground as best as possible, and the game resumed.

By that time, the umpires had decided: Nepal’s batting had concluded, the target was of 78 in 10 overs for the UAE under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method.

With the overs reduced, one Nepali bowler could bowl a maximum of five overs. Sandeep Lamichhane picked three wickets in his two overs, giving away only eight runs. Kushal Malla was the only other who picked a wicket as the UAE completed the chase with seven balls and four wickets in hand.

Six was required of eight balls when Akshdeep Nath (17 off 8) hit a maximum to Malla, who was bowling his first over.

The Nepali team was not much affected by the loss as head coach Stuart Law seemed to have tried some experiment during the friendly series. Law had revealed a surprising squad for the series.

Regulars like Rohit Kumar Paudel, Aasif Sheikh, Karan KC and Sompal Kami, among others, were not included in the series. Hemant Dhami, the youngster from Sudurpashchim with the most wickets in the recently concluded Men’s PM Cup, got his debut, while Arjun Saud replaced Sheikh in wicketkeeping.

Airee also did not seem much affected by the loss. He was seen smiling with some of his teammates as he returned to the dugout after the defeat.

“We did not bat well. I also struggled with the bat,” captain Airee said in the post-match presentation. “But we are going to get better soon.”

But it should not have been as easy as Airee and Law to others to forget the loss by taking the positives. Especially Saud.

Saud, who was making his return to the T20I squad after over three years, would not have been happy as he missed a major catch in 1.4 overs. He dropped UAE skipper Muhammad Waseem, who was then at 24. Waseem went on to smash 33 off 15 before getting caught out in the spell of Lamichhane.

“Nepal are a good team,” Waseem said during the post-match presentation. “But we are prepared.”

It was the 18th T20I between Nepal and UAE. Both have nine wins each now. It is because of this rivalry between the two that their encounter has been dubbed as the ‘Associate El Clásico’ over the years.

Further, the win would have also led the UAE to forget the undelightful moment during the players’ lineup for the national anthems before the match began.

Waseem, frustrated, had walked towards the dugout with his teammates as the UAE players could not sing their national anthem after a wrong song was played twice.

Meanwhile, the match couldn’t draw an expected number of fans.

Despite the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) hyping the friendly series as the Associate El Clásico alongside Nepal’s first international match at a floodlit-TU Ground, the stadium had a good deal of empty seats.

CAN’s expectation for the crowd was much bigger as the governing body of Nepali cricket believed that fans could join an evening game after completing their office. The only positive was that there were fewer fans, who even waited under rain for the match to resume at a grandstand that is yet to transform into a parapet.

“We hope that many fans will come tomorrow,” Airee said after the game.