T20 World Cup qualifier: UAE and Nepal face off again in an all-important clash

It is 21 months since they did it in the last T20 World Cup qualifier in Muscat. Eight months since the Cricket World Cup League 2 at Tribhuvan University. Six months since the Asia Cup decider in Kirtipur. And a mere seven days since the tri-nations series final.

Now here they are, all set to do it again, with absolutely everything riding on one match. The UAE and Nepal really need to stop meeting like this.

The two biggest rivals in Asian cricket beyond the Test elite have one, winner-takes-all encounter left to decide who goes to next year's T20 World Cup.

Forty overs to decide who gets to mix with the best in the United States and the West Indies next June. It feels a scandal that it is going to be one or the other, and not both.

It did not need to be like this. Nepal could have evaded their old rivals if they had beaten Oman in Kantipur.

As is their habit, they tried their best to pull off an unbelievable heist. They required 26 off their final over to haul in the 146 they needed.

Thanks to some extraordinary hitting by Bibek Yadav, they got to within one blow, only to fall short.

At the same time, across Kathmandu, the UAE were busy putting together a third win in their group, by 22 runs against Kong Kong. As group winners, they get to play the second-placed side from the other pool: Nepal.

The national team also get the benefit of continuing to play at the ground at which they played all their pool matches, Upper Mulpani Cricket Ground.

That is significant, and the source of much conjecture. The tournament organisers opted to play this fixture at Mulpani no matter where the host nation finished.

There has been precedent at a variety of tournaments in the past for a venue to be decided on the basis of where a