UAE Edges Nepal in Thrilling Tri-Nation T20I Series Final

UAE beat Nepal by four wickets with just a ball to spare in the thrilling final of the Tri-Nation T20I series in Kirtipur, Nepal. Needing seven of the final 20th over, UAE reached the target with one ball remaining. 

Earlier, UAE won the toss and asked Nepal to Bat first. Nepal made a good start by scoring 43 runs in five overs with the loss of the wicket of Aasif Sheikh, who scored seven runs. Nepal's second wicket fell at the score of 63 runs in the form of Kushal Malla, who could only score one run. At the score of 68, Kushal Bhurtel, who had scored 50 of those 68 runs, fell to Zahoor Khan. Captain Rohit Paudel and Dipendra Singh Airee both started well and were looking comfortable. But both lost their wickets in the 13th over getting out to Ali Naseer, scoring 18 and 20 runs respectively. Towards the later stage of the innings, Karan KC played some nice shots to score 23 runs from 17 balls, which finally took Nepal to a score of 162. In total Nepal lost 8 wickets. Zahoor Khan bowled a good last over and only gave 2 runs. 15 extras also contributed to the Nepal total of 162 runs.

For the UAE, Aayan Afzal Khan was the pick of the bowler with 3 wickets for just 19 runs in his 4 overs. Besides this Ali Naseer and Zahooe Khan also bowled well and took two wickets apiece.

Chasing the target of 163 runs, UAE made a fantastic start scoring 71 runs inside seven overs. Captain Muhammad Waseem who opened the innings with Aryansh Sharma scored 45 runs of just 22 balls with seven fours and two sixes. Aryansh Sharma also played a good knock of 25 runs from 26 balls. But just when UAE looked to make the match one-sided, Muhammad Waseem fell to Gulshan Jha in the seventh over while Kushal Malla took the wickets of Aryansh Sharma in the 10th over at the UAE's score of 85 runs. UAE's wickets kept falling at regular intervals but the strong start and useful 25-run partnership between Basil Hameed and Ali Naseer towards the end proved enough.

Nepalese bowlers did a good job taking the game to the last over but the target they set was under par for the flat batting friendly wicket. Gulshan Jha and Ashish Bohara took two wickets each while Kushal Malla got one wicket. Sompal Kami and Karan KC were the least effective bowlers for Nepal in the match with the pair combined giving 70 runs in 5.5 overs without a single wicket.

Aayan Afzal Khan was declared Man of the Match for his wonderful bowling spell of 3 for 19 in four overs.

Nepal played impressive cricket throughout the tournament winning all of its four group-level matches. But they couldn't continue their performance in the final. Though Nepal lost the series, Nepali cricket is always getting better with every match and series.