A half century from opener Aasif Sheikh gave hosts Nepal a convincing six-wicket win over Malaysia as they pulled off their second win in a row to inch closer to the final of Nepal Tri-Nation Twenty20 International Series at the TU cricket ground in Kirtipur on Wednesday.

Electing to bat first, Malaysia posted a meagre total of 114-8 before Nepal stormed to victory in 13.4 overs scoring 117-4. Sheikh laid the foundation for easy chase smashing 57 off 38 to score his second T20I half century.

The second victory from as many matches put Nepal, who had edged Papua New Guinea (PNG) by six wickets on Monday, on top of the standings with four points. Malaysia are second with two points and PNG, yet to open scoring in the standings, are third after playing equal two matches. The top two teams at the completion of the double round robin league will play for the title. Nepal host PNG in their third match of the Series on Wednesday.

Nepali bowlers put up a dominant show from the beginning and took wickets on regular intervals. Malaysia got an early jolt after in-form opener Virandeep Singh, who had scored unbeaten 59 runs against PNG on Tuesday, was bowled by Karan KC for a duck in the first delivery of the innings.

"We dominated the match via bowling as we got wickets on regular intervals. The bowlers gave their everything though there are areas for improvement. Getting the wicket of Virandeep was a bonus to us. All credit of the game goes to bowlers," said Nepal captain Lamichhane adding that the pitch was dry and it was also comfortable for the batters.

"Similar to bowling we also dominated the game with the bat. Achieving the target inside 14 wickets is a good sign. The ambition of the whole team is to win all four league matches and the title. We are not yet assured of a final berth and would not take any match lightly," added Lamichhane.

"Aasif played the innings exactly the way we wanted. But if he had finished the innings, it would have been even more perfect. It is a learning opportunity and I hope he has learned from the game," he said.

Zubaidi Zulkifle and captain Ahmad Faiz shared a 49-run stand for the second wicket before the former was bowled by Kushal Malla. Zulkifle, the highest scorer of the innings, contributed 15-ball 32 smashing three fences and two sixes.

Faiz scored 24 off 38 that included three boundaries. He was caught by Malla off captain Lamichhane. Syed Aziz and Muhammad Amir were the other batters to touch double digit figures scoring 14 runs and 16 runs respectively.

Medium pacer KC and captain Lamichhane grabbed Malaysia’s two wickets each while Abinash Bohara, Kushal Malla and Dipendra Singh Airee picked one wicket each. KC conceded 16 runs in his three-over bowling while Lamichhane conceded 27 runs in his four-over spell.

In the run chase, Nepal also lost the first two wickets with 2-25 on board as opener Kushal Bhurtel was out for one run in the second over and Rohit Paudel for 12 runs in the fourth over.

But Sheikh and Dipendra Singh Airee created the base for victory, sharing a 70-run stand for the third wicket. Airee contributed 17-ball 21 before he was stumped in the 12th over with 3-95 on board. Sheikh, who hit seven fences and a six, was the next wicket to fall after he was caught by Ainool Hafizs off Syed Aziz in the following over.

Dilip Nath, who hit a winning boundary to Muhammad Wafiq, remained not out on 15 off seven deliveries and Kushal Malla was unbeaten on two runs.

Malaysia's Praveendeep Singh claimed two wickets in his three over spell giving away 23 runs.

Airee first to score 800 runs in T20I

All-rounder Dipendra Singh Airee became the first player to reach 800 runs milestone for Nepal in the T20I. With his 21 runs against Malaysia, he collected a total of 803 runs from 31 innings to replace former captain Paras Khadka on top of the highest T20I run scorer for Nepal.

Khadka has 799 runs from 32 innings. Former captain Gyanendra Malla, excluded from the squad, is third with 748 runs while Kushal Bhurtel is fourth on 519 runs. Bhurtel's runs came from 13 innings.