Dipendra Singh Airee raised his bat at the TU International Cricket Ground on Friday, acknowledging a crowd that watched him grow from a promising youngster into Nepal’s most reliable all-rounder.

His century against the UAE was more than just another milestone. It hinted that 2026 could finally become the year when Airee’s consistency turns into a spectacle.

He underlined that possibility with a composed century against the UAE in the ICC CWC League 2 tri-series, scoring 100 off 94 balls—his second ODI hundred and first in League 2—as Nepal posted 289/7 and secured a dramatic five-run victory.

With 13 fours and a six, Airee got run out at 100 off 94 while stealing runs in the last ball of the innings. Binod Bhandari (56 off 79), Gulshan Kumar Jha (44 off 38) and skipper Rohit Kumar Paudel (39 off 48) also contributed as Nepal posted 289/7. Youngster Arjun Kumal, who made his ODI debut for Nepal as the opener on the striker’s end, could only muster 11 off 22.

Rain interrupted UAE’s chase as the covers were called in 4.1 overs with the score at 36/1. When the match resumed around an hour later, the target was revised to 255 and the overs reduced to 38.

But an early wicket did not give momentum to the home side in the post-rain match. An 80-run partnership for the third wicket between Muhammad Shahdad (65 off 72) and Harpreet Singh (41 off 40), and a 76-run partnership for the seventh wicket between Khuzaima Tanveer (49 off 26) and Akshdeep Nath brought UAE close to the target.

By the time Nandan Yadav came to bowl the 38th over, UAE required 15 runs to win. But Yadav, who picked two wickets in the match, kept calm despite conceding two boundaries in the first four balls. He bowled consecutive dots to end the innings.

Nepal then won by five runs and added two crucial points to their League-2 campaign.

Sompaln Kami also picked two wickets while Sandeep Lamichhane picked three. Lamichhane is now the only bowler with 100+ League-2 wickets; he has 102 wickets in 49 matches (47 innings) in League-2.

Nonetheless, it was Airee who was adjudged the player of the match for his century.

Airee’s year

Friday’s match against the UAE was Airee’s third ODI of 2026. And he was on a high.

Airee had scored 75 against the UAE in the first match on April 25 and 60 against Oman on April 29. He gave a major boost to his consistency with a ton on Friday.

And in the first three matches of 2026 alone, Airee has accumulated 235 runs. With at least 13 ODI matches in League-2 remaining for Nepal in 2026, Airee is only 99 runs short of his most ODI runs in a year—392 runs in 21 matches in 2023.

With the century against the UAE, Airee has also become the second Nepali batter with two centuries in ODIs, after Rohit Kumar Paudel.

Airee’s first century came against Papua New Guinea (PNG) at the same venue on March 26, 2022. Airee had scored 338 runs in 21 matches in 2022.

Except for 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2026, Airee has never made a total in three figures in a calendar year.

He had 92 runs in three matches in his debut year in 2018, which was followed by 16 runs in three matches in 2019.

Airee could only manage 51 runs in four matches in 2020, while he did not play a single ODI in 2021. In 2024, Airee scored 59 runs in eight games. And last year, in 2025, Airee had 293 runs in eight matches.

Airee has played 71 ODIs across 16 venues. Of them, 24 have been at the home of Nepali cricket. Airee has 638 ODI runs at TU Ground. In League-2 alone, Airee has 444 runs in 18 matches at TU Ground.

And with 235 runs in his first three games in 2026, Airee, who is now 26, suggests he is at his peak.

He is doing similarly well in T20Is as well.

Airee’s best year in T20Is was 2022, when he scored 626 runs in 18 matches. His second-best annual score was in 2024, when he collected 381 runs in 21 games.

Having played six T20Is in 2026, including four in the T20 World Cup, Airee has already scored 224 runs. Moreover, Airee scored 58 against the West Indies, 50 against Scotland and 44 against England in the T20 World Cup.

Airee has 2,180 runs and 60 wickets in 96 T20Is. He also has 45 wickets in 71 ODIs.

If Airee, who is now the T20I captain for Nepal, maintains this rhythm through the remaining League-2 fixtures and international assignments, 2026 may not just be another productive season—it could become the year when he sets his mark on Nepali cricket.

Nepal now play Oman in the last match of the League-2 tri-series on May 5. Before that, Oman will face the UAE on May 3.