Kushal Bhurtel career best knock at home hands Nepal first win under lights

By Cricketing Country | Posted Posted Apr 21, 2026

Nepal secured their first ever win under lights at the TU International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday, beating UAE by eight wickets to avoid a 2-0 series defeat. The result also marked Dipendra Singh Airee’s first win as Nepal captain.

After opting to field, Nepal made an immediate impact as Hemant Dhami trapped UAE skipper Muhammad Waseem lbw off the very first ball of the innings, his maiden T20I wicket. UAE were reduced to 48 for 6 inside eight overs before Akshdeep Nath and Muhammad Arfan revived the innings with a 64-run stand to take the total to 128.

Sandeep Lamichhane starred with the ball, conceding just six runs including a maiden in his four overs while picking up three wickets. Hemant Dhami finished with 2 for 20, while Nandan Yadav and Shahab Alam chipped in with a wicket each.

In reply, Nepal changed their opening pair with Kushal Bhurtel and Kushal Malla adding 67 runs for the first wicket before Kushal Malla fell for 19. Debutant Santosh Yadav was dismissed for 1 soon after.

Kushal Bhurtel then anchored the chase with a career-best knock at home scoring unbeaten 84 off 57 balls, striking 12 boundaries and two sixes, followd by a support of Dipendra Singh Airee's 23 to seal a comfortable win.

For UAE, Ajay Kumar was economical with 0 for 16 from his four overs, while Muhammad Arfan (1 for 19) and Nilansh Keshwani (1 for 31) were among the wickets.