Nepal vs UAE: Aarif, Dipendra Airee Fifties Guide Nepal to Seven-Wicket Win

Nepal secured a comfortable 7-wicket win over UAE in a T20 World Cup warm-up match, thanks to an unbeaten century partnership between Aarif Sheikh and Dipendra Singh Airee. Aarif Sheikh scored 61* off 37 balls, while Dipendra Singh Airee remained unbeaten on 50 off 31 deliveries. The duo's 103-run stand for the fourth wicket helped Nepal chase down UAE's 146-run target with 18 balls to spare. 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. 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. UAE had posted 145/6, with Sohaib Khan scoring 38* and Harshit Kaushik hitting 35 off 24 balls. Nepal's bowlers, led by Karan KC and Sandeep Lamichhane, took 2 wickets each to restrict UAE's score.