Nepal made a winning start in the Nepal T20I Triangular Series after they defeated the United Arab Emirates by seven wickets at the Mulpani Cricket Ground in Kathmandu on Wednesday.

Nepal were chasing 141 to win and captain Rohit Paudel scored a half-century to help them cruise to 144-3 in 18.5 overs.

Nepal lost their top order cheaply after Kushal Bhurtel fell to Nilansh Keswani for 14 and Ali Nasser ran out Kushal Malla for 11.

Bhurtel’s opening partner and wicketkeeper Aasif Sheikh fired a six and two fours in his 27-ball 23 before Nasser had him caught by Muhammad Waseen in 8.5 overs.

Paudel came at number three and lifted Nepal from a precarious 51-3, playing 51 not out off 40 deliveries and putting on a 93-run stand with Dipendra Singh Airee, who added an unbeaten 34 off 23 balls, to guide Nepal to a comprehensive victory.

Earlier, sent in to bat first after losing the toss, UAE made a slow start to their innings, losing Khalid Shah (for nought), Alishan Sharafu (6), Muhammad Waseem (17) and Asif Khan (15) cheaply, thanks to Nepali pacers.

Sompal Kami dismissed Shah in the last ball of the first over and Karan KC sent back Sharafu in the forth over before Gulsan Jha struck twice, removing Waseem and Khan, to reduce the UAE to 52-4 in the 8.4 overs.

But Basil Hameed resisted Nepal's bowling attack with a half-century (51) off a prudent 38-ball knock and shared a 56-run partnership with Naseer, who made 32, for the fifth wicket to guide the UAE to 140-7.

KC broke their partnership in the 17th over when he had Naseer caught by Paudel.

Hameed came in the ninth over and bade his time before smashing two sixes off Airee in the 15th over and two more maximums off Abinash Bohara in the 18th over before reaching his maiden T20I half century with a run off KC.

KC then completed his three-wicket haul removing Mohammed Faraazuddin (0) before Bohara finally undid Hameed’s blistering show in the first ball of the 20th over.

Nepal next play Hong Kong at the same venue on Thursday.

All three teams—Nepal, the UAE and Hong Kong—are playing the tri-series to fine-tune their preparation for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Asia Qualifier, which is scheduled to start in Kathmandu on October 30.

Nepal are pitted alongside Oman, Malaysia and Singapore in Group A of the Asia regional finals. The UAE, Hong Kong, Bahrain and Kuwait are placed in Group B.

The top two teams from each group advance into the semi-finals. The two finalists will qualify for the T20 World Cup to be co-hosted by the West Indies and the United States.

The UAE played the 2022 World Cup and were knocked out from group stage. The UAE had defeated Nepal by 68 runs in the semi-finals of the Global Qualifier A in Oman in February 2022 to qualify for the last edition of the World Cup in Australia.