Aarif, Airee fifties help Nepal cruise past UAE

Unbeaten half-centuries from Dipendra Singh Airee and Aarif Sheikh saw Nepal cruise to a win against UAE in their first warm-up game in Chennai ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026. An unbroken 103-run stand between the two batters saw Nepal chase down a modest target of 146 with seven wickets and three overs to spare.

After Nepal opted to bowl first, UAE were in early trouble as fast bowler Karan KC knocked over their captain Muhammad Waseem in the first over. Aryansh Sharma and Muhammad Zohaib then had a 35-run stand in a watchful powerplay, which ended with no further wickets lost. However, Sandeep Lamichhane struck in the first over after the powerplay, removing Aryansh for a 17-ball 25.

As UAE looked to rebuild, Airee and Lamichhane got Zohaib and Mayank Kumar, respectively, before Alishan Sharafu was run out as Nepal picked up three wickets for six runs midway into the 12th over.

But Harshit Kaushik and Sohaib Khan, UAE's Nos. 5 and 6, arrested the collapse with a 68-run stand to take them to just short of 150.

Nepal's chase did not start off as comfortably as it ended, with Kushal Bhurtel caught behind off fast bowler Muhammad Rohid in the second over, and Aasif Sheikh run out in the fourth. Things only got worse when they lost their captain Rohit Paudel for a 19-ball 16 in the seventh over, thanks to another run-out.

That got Airee and Aarif together, and the two shut UAE out for the rest of the chase. They were not rapid, but ensured the boundaries kept coming occasionally. From the eighth over till the 17th, when they sealed the chase, there was only one boundary-less over.

The first six of the chase came off the final ball of the 16th over when Airee took on Simranjeet Singh. The next over, Aarif hit a maximum off Muhammad Arfan to bring up a half-century, and followed it up with another six. A single brought up Airee's landmark, and Aarif completed the job with a boundary off the last ball of the over.