Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The UAE defeated Nepal by four wickets to lift the title of the Nepal Tri-Nation T20I Series at the TU International Cricket Ground on Friday.
Batting first after losing the toss, Nepal scored 162 runs, losing eight wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Chasing 163 runs for the victory, the UAE scored 167 runs for the loss of six wickets with a ball to spare.
Nepal made a good start with the bat, adding 43 runs for the first wicket in five overs. However, the hosts slumped to 109/5 before Karan KC and Sompal Kami resurrected the Nepali innings.
Opener Kushal Burtel top-scored for Nepal with a 29-ball 50. Karan KC scored 23 runs off 17 balls, while Dipendra Singh Airee scored 20. Captain Rohit Poudel contributed 18 runs, and Sompal Kami chipped in with 13 runs, while Sandeep Jora scored a run-a-ball 10.
Aaayan Afzal Khan took three wickets for the UAE, while Ali Naseer and Zahoor Khan claimed two Nepali wickets and Juaid Siddique had one wicket to his name.
The UAE’s opening pair of Muhammed Waseem and Aryansh Sharma made light work of the chase, adding 71 runs for the first wicket in just 6.4 overs to lay a solid foundation in the chase. Captain Waseem scored 45 runs off 22 balls, while Aryansh Sharma scored 25 runs from 26 balls. Vriitya Aravind scored 26 runs from 25 balls before he was run out by Dipendra Singh Airee. Basil Hameed scored an undefeated 22 runs from 16 balls, while Alishan Sharafu scored 13, and Ali Nazeer contributed 11 runs from 9 balls.
Gulshan Jha and Abinash Bohara took two wickets each for Nepal, while Kushal Malla contributed one wicket.
Nepal had comfortably won both its round-robin matches against the UAE and Hong Kong. The UAE and Hong Kong won one game each, but the UAE qualified for the final with a better run rate.
