KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 18

Nepal secured a seven-wicket victory over UAE in the Tri-Nation T20 Series played at Mulpani Ground in Kathmandu today.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, the hosts Nepal managed to restrict their arch-rivals, UAE, to a total of 140/7 in their allotted 20 overs.

Basil Hameed played an impressive innings, scoring 51 runs off 38 balls, including one four and four maximums, which set a challenging target for Nepal.

Karan KC was the pick of the bowlers, taking three wickets, while Gulshan Jha claimed two wickets. Pacers Sompal Kami and Abinash Bohara each took one wicket.

In reply, Nepal comfortably reached the target with seven wickets in hand and seven balls to spare. The early loss of opener Kushal Bhurtel, who scored 14 runs off 14 balls, did not disrupt Nepal's chase.

Captain Rohit Paudel stepped up to play a match-winning innings, finishing with an unbeaten 51 runs, later adjudged to be man-of-the-match.

Dipendra Singh Airee also contributed with an unbeaten 34 runs, and shared an unbroken 99-run partnership with Rohit Paudel for the fourth wicket, securing a comprehensive victory over UAE.

UAE's bowlers Nilansh Keswani and Ali Naseer took a wicket each, and Kushal Malla was run out for 9 runs.

With this comfortable victory, Nepal now leads the table with 2 points among the three participating teams.