Ayan claimed Asif Sheikh for just eight after his partner Rohan Mustafa dismissed Kushal Bhurtail for one, and Mustafa followed quickly through a mistake by Rohit Paudel (one) to make it 22-3.
Seeing two wickets falling within a few overs at the other end, Jha kept a watchful eye before delivering an overpitch delivery. He launched straight and over the top to hit several sixes down the ground. He attacks Karthik Meiyappan who misses his length. Jha brought the team back the momentum by scoring 14 runs in just three balls of the leg-spinner’s over.
With runs coming at short intervals, the pressure on the batting side eased. To find a breakthrough, UAE turned to fast bowler Zahoor as their last game. But the runs continued to flow in Nepal’s fourth wicket partnership as Bhim Sharkey joined Jha in the middle overs.