Dubai: The UAE cruised to victory in the first Twenty20 against Nepal in Dubai on Thursday.

Put into bat first, the hosts posted a challenging target of 153 for six, thanks to a commanding 59 from Shaiman Anwar.

Muhammad Usman also chipped in with 30 as the visitors struggled to breakdown the UAE batting.

In reply, Sundeep Jora top-scored with 53, but Nepal were always behind the run-rate and could only score 132 for seven before they ran out of overs and the UAE triumphed by 21 runs.

The second T20 is also in Dubai on Friday. It was a redemption of sorts for Dougie Brown’s side after Paras Khadka struck both his and Nepal’s maiden ODI century as he led the team to a memorable four-wicket victory over the UAE in Dubai last week and claim the series 2-1.

Brief scores

UAE 153-6: Shaiman Anwar 59, Muhammad Anwar 30, Chundangapoyil Rizwan 22; Basant Regmi 2-23

Nepal 132-7: Sundeep Jora 53, Sompal Kami 27; Zahoor Khan 2-17, Mohammad Naveed 2-19

UAE won by 21 runs