Nepal lost to United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 78 runs in the ongoing Asia Cup Qualifiers being held at Kinrara Academy Oval in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Thursday.

Electing to field after winning the toss, Nepal lost its first wicket as Gyanendra Malla departed for 4 in the very first over. Then in the 9^th over skipper Paras Khadka was sent off to the pavilion with just 16 runs in his name. Subash Khakurel and Deependra Singh Airee scored 50 runs and 40 runs respectively as they tried to hold the Nepali innings together. However, with other batsmen failing to score in double figures except Sompal Kami (27) and Basanta Regmi (12), it was always an uphill task for Nepal to chase the 255-run target.

UAE bowlers Ahmed Raza took four Nepali wickets and Mohammad Naveed claimed three while Amir Hayat took two and Ashfaq Ahmed also put one in his pocket.

Earlier, UAE had finished with a strong total of 254 for nine after solid batting performance. Chirag Suri (65) and Adnan Mufti (57) scored half-centuries and Ashfaq Ahmed (45) and Rameez Shahzad (35) contributed with good scores.

For Nepal, Sandeep Lamichhane took four wickets while Sompal Kami and Basanta Regmi had two each. Karan KC was expensive of the lot giving away 61 runs from eight overs without any wickets.

Nepal lost its first match against Oman on Wednesday.

The winner of the tournament will play the Asia Cup tournament.