Lower order batter Dipendra Singh Airee slammed an unbeaten half century for Nepal as they pulled off a hard fought three-wicket victory over the United Arab Emirate (UAE) in their seventh place playoff semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier at the Takashinga Sports Club in Harera, Zimbabwe, on Sunday.

Inviting the UAE to bat first, Nepal bowled them out for 181 runs in 46.5 overs. Chasing the moderate target, Nepal’s inconsistent batting line up was once again put to test with them struggling at 63-6 at one point. But Airee rescued them, slamming an unbeaten 79 runs off 85, inspiring Nepal to victory as they made 185-7 in 43.2 overs.

Coming to bat at number seven, the allrounder knocked seven hits to the fences and two sixes, including the winning boundary. The player-of-the-match also shared an unbeaten 79 runs partnership with Sandeep Lamichhane, who scored an unbeaten 23 runs off 37. Lamichhane struck two boundaries.

Apart from the duo, opener Kushal Bhurtel (35 runs off 59), Gyanendra Malla (13 runs off 22), and Gulsan Jha (12 runs off 24) were the only other batters to score double digit figures for Nepal.

UAE bowler Muhammad Jawadullah claimed three wickets in his 10-over spell conceding 46 runs. Junaid Siddique, Ali Naseer, Sanchit Sharma and Rohan Mustafa picked one wicket each.

Earlier, UAE lost their wickets in regular intervals after opener Asif Khan was dismissed for a duck on the second delivery of the innings. Captain Vritya Aravind scored 44 runs off 75, the highest of the innings, that included four hits to boundaries.He was bowled out by Gulsan Jha.

Opener Aryansh Sharma (28 runs), Rohan Mustafa (35 runs) and Basil Hamid (29 runs) were the other major contributors for UAE who looked to be in strong position at 155-5. But they lost the remaining five wickets adding just 26 runs.

Nepal’s medium pacer Karan KC and Sandeep Lamichhane grabbed three wickets each. Lamichhane conceded 23 runs in his 10-over spell including three maiden overs. KC conceded 36 runs in his 8.5-over spell.

Nepal will now play the seventh place playoff against Ireland on Tuesday.