Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Dipendra Singh Airee scored a fighting half-century and Karan KC claimed four wickets as Nepal defeated the UAE by 37 runs in the opening match of the ICC World Cricket League (WCL) 2 tri-series at the TU International Cricket Stadium in Kirtipur on Wednesday.
Sent in to bat first after losing the toss, Nepal was all out for 200 runs in 48.2 overs. In reply, the UAE folded for 163 runs in 48.2 overs.
Although opener Kushal Bhurtel got off to a good start and scored 24 off 25 balls, he failed to convert it into a big score as wickets tumbled at the other end. The other opener Aasif Sheikh scored seven, Bhim Sharki made 10 and captain Rohit Paudel was out for two. Basir Ahmed and vice-captain Dipendra Singh Airee steadied the innings. Basir scored 20 off 40 balls. Airee, however, stayed till the end and scored 75 off 90 balls. Aarif Sheikh and Sompal Kami supported him with 15 each, while Karan KC scored 22 off 27 balls.
Junaid Siddique and Ajay Kumar claimed three wickets each for the UAE, while Khuzaima Tanveer contributed two, and Haider Ali and Muhammad Shahzad chipped in with a wicket each.
Chasing 201, the UAE came under early pressure as Karan trapped opener Adeeb Usmani (1) and Muhammad Shahzad (2) leg before wicket in the same over. Aryansh Sharma scored 18 before Harpreet Singh and Akshdeep Nath steadied the innings. Singh top-scored for the visitors with a 52-ball 39, while Akshdeep Nath scored 20, captain Muhammad Waseem made 34, and Nilansh Keswani chipped in with 18. Other UAE batters failed to reach double digits.
Karan claimed four wickets for Nepal, giving away just 19 runs in 9.2 overs. Sompal Kami and Sandeep Lamichhane picked up two each, and Airee chipped in with a wicket.
The UAE meet Oman in the second match of the tri-series on Monday.
Oman are third on the eight-team WCL2 table with 29 points from 28 matches, while Nepal are seventh with 14 and the UAE are at the bottom of the table with 10 points from 21 matches.
