Dipendra Airee’s 41-ball 47* helped Nepal clinch a last-over thriller against the United Arab Emirates in the second Twenty20 International in Dubai on Friday, 1 February, and level the three-match series 1-1.
Set 108 runs for victory after UAE won the toss and elected to bat first, Nepal found themselves in trouble at 46/5 in the 11th over, having lost four of their top five batsmen including captain Paras Khadka, who was dismissed for a duck.
But Airee forged a crucial 55-run sixth-wicket partnership with Pawan Sarraf (18) and took Nepal past the 100-run mark.
Nepal level the series! Dipendra Airee finishes on 47* as UAE’s 107 is chased down with 3 balls remaining for a four-wicket victory in Dubai.
Who will take the series decider on Sunday? #UAEvNEP pic.twitter.com/IgpHimohMn
— ICC (@ICC) February 1, 2019
Even though Sarraf was dismissed on the first ball of the 20th over with Nepal still needing seven runs off the last five balls, Airee held his nerve and hit a six and a four off the next two to seal the deal with three balls to spare.
Earlier, UAE were bowled out for 107 runs in 19.2 overs as only three of their batsmen could reach double-digit scores. Chundangapoyil Rizwan top scored with 44 for the hosts.
Nepal’s Sundeep Jora has become the youngest man to score a T20I fifty at the age of 17 years, 103 days with 53* on debut, but it wasn’t enough to stop UAE claiming a 21-run victory in the 1st T20I in Dubai.#UAEvNEP scorecard ➡️ https://t.co/kds3bCLVqu pic.twitter.com/nekXry6lCF
— ICC (@ICC) January 31, 2019
Abinash Bohara was the pick of the bowlers for Nepal with his 3/20 while all of Sandeep Lammichhane, Sompal Kami and Karan KC returned two wickets apiece.
The three-match series is now level, and the final will be played on Sunday, 3 February in Dubai. UAE won the first T20I by 21 runs on Thursday, 31 January.
