Dipendra Singh Airee and Aarif Sheikh played key roles for Nepal as they secured a strong win over the UAE in their first warm-up match in Chennai for the T20 World Cup 2026. Their partnership contributed significantly, helping Nepal reach a target of 146 runs with seven wickets remaining and three overs to spare.
Nepal opted to bowl first. Karan KC, a pacer, took the first wicket by dismissing UAE captain Muhammad Waseem in the opening over. The powerplay saw Aryansh Sharma and Muhammad Zohaib form a cautious partnership, scoring 35 runs and keeping the match steady. Sandeep Lamichhane broke through by getting Aryansh out for 25 runs in the first over after the powerplay.
The UAE faced challenges as Airee and Lamichhane took down Zohaib and Mayank Kumar. Alishan Sharafu was run out as UAE lost three wickets for just six runs in the 12th over, adding to their troubles.
However, Harshit Kaushik and Sohaib Khan steadied the innings with a 68-run partnership, bringing UAE closer to a competitive total.
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Nepal’s innings began with Kushal Bhurtel falling to Muhammad Rohid in the second over. Aasif Sheikh was run out shortly after, and captain Rohit Paudel followed suit with a 16-run effort, also run out, in the seventh over.
Airee and Aarif then took control, keeping the UAE at bay. They played patiently, rotating the strike and finding boundaries throughout their innings. Notably, there was only one over without a boundary between the eighth and 17th overs.
The first six of the innings came on the last ball of the 16th over, hit by Airee off Simranjeet Singh. Aarif quickly followed up with his first six to reach his half-century against Muhammad Arfan and added another six shortly after. Airee completed his fifty with a single before Aarif finished the match with a boundary on the last ball.
