Having lost the preceding one-day international series 2-1, UAE bounced back excellently in the first Twenty20 International in Dubai to beat Nepal by 21 runs on Thursday, 31 January.
Being put in to bat, UAE were able to score a respectable 153/6, thanks largely to Shaiman Anwar’s fighting 59 from 38 balls. Sultan Ahmed, Zahoor Khan and Mohammad Naveed then took two wickets apiece to help restrict Nepal to 132/7 despite Sundeep Jora’s fighting half-century, securing their side a comfortable win in the first of three T20Is.
The chase was off to a poor start with Pradeep Airee being dismissed first ball by Mohammad Naveed, and Nepal simply weren’t able to quite match up through the rest of the innings.
Gyanendra Malla and Dipendra Airee were removed by Ahmed and Amir Hayat in back-to-back overs. Having opened the innings, skipper Paras Khadka had shown promise with a run-a-ball 25 but was finally dismissed by paceman Zahoor Khan, spooning a simple catch to Sultan Ahmed at point.
Zahoor had Rohit Paudel caught at slip in his next over as the batsman tried to play a drive on the up. Sundeep Jora and Karan KC revived faint hopes with a 33-run stand for the sixth wicket until the latter became Sultan Ahmed’s second victim, scooping a catch straight back to him.
Jora, who had contributed to the bulk of runs in the partnership with Karan, continued playing well, and even found a capable ally in Sompal Kami as the duo stitched up a 39-run stand for the seventh wicket, but it was all too late by then as the asking rate became excessively difficult. Yet, the duo’s fight was noteworthy.
Jora, aged 17 years and 103 days, even became the youngest man to score a T20I fifty, the feat coming hot on the heels of his teammate Paudel becoming the youngest male player to score an international fifty across all formats. Kami was dismissed for a 19-ball 27 in the final over, while Jora remained not out on 53 from 46 balls.
Earlier, the UAE innings was built around a 61-run partnership between Anwar and Muhammad Usman. The hosts too had a poor start to the innings, but the fourth-wicket partnership between those two put them on course for a decent score.
Sandeep Lamichhane had accounted for opener Ashfaq Ahmed early and Sompal Kami had removed Ghulam Shabber shortly later for eight. When Chundangapoyil Rizwan fell for 22, UAE’s scorecard read 43/3, and that is when Anwar and Usman joined hands.
Usman was finally dismissed for 30 off 24 balls when he tried to launch leg-spinner Lamichhane out of the park, only holing out to mid-wicket. Anwar went past his fifty and his knock was laced with five fours and two sixes until he perished for 59, bowled by Abinash Bohara. A late cameo from Mohammad Boota of 20* from 15 balls allowed UAE to get past the 150-mark.
