The UAE defeated Zimbabwe by three runs in the penultimate match of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Harare on Friday
harare — The UAE, who were out of World Cup contention last week after losing to Scotland, did a huge favour to Afghanistan and Ireland, when against all odds and expectations, they defeated Zim- babwe by three runs in the penultimate match of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 in front of a packed to capacity Harare Sports Stadium on Thursday.
Chasing a Duckworth Lewis Method revised target of 230 off 40 overs after rains, Zimbabwe needed six off the last ball to win the Super Six match and join already-qualified West Indies in the 2019 showpiece.
But Craig Ervine was only able to take two off Man-of-the-Match Mohammad Naveed’s last ball and dashed the home side’s hopes of making the World Cup.
The UAE, who had no chance of qualifying for the finals, made 235-7 off 47.5 overs with Rameez Shazhad, who scored 112 against the Windies but then missed matches due to illness, returned to finish as his side’s top scorer with a 59 off 61 balls, sending the ball across the ropes four times and twice over it.
After a delay due to rain at the Harare Sports Club, Zimbabwe were set a DLS target of 230 off 40 overs but despite a run-a-ball 80 from Sean Williams, the home side never recovered from a slow start which saw them slip to 45-3 at one stage and the asking rate kept climbing.
On Friday, Afghanistan and Ireland will meet at the same venue with the winner guaranteed a place in the 2019 finals in England and Wales.
“It’s a big win for us, beating a Test team,” a beaming UAE captain Rohan Mustafa said after the match.
“No one knew about us, now they’ll know about us,” he enthused.
“Feel sorry for Zimbabwe, but that’s sport,” he said while sympathising with the hosts.
Talking about injuries and sickness to the UAE players during the crucial stage of the tournament, he said: “Injuries hurt us in the Super Sixes, but we have shown how much we’ve changed in the past one and a half years.”
“We’ll come hard next time,” he promised
“We lost wickets in crucial periods,” Zimbabwean captain Graeme Cremer said when asked what went wrong.
“Taking nothing away from (the) UAE, they bowled and fielded excellently. Credit to our team for holding our nerve in a few games throughout the tournament. We’ll pick ourselves up soon, but right now it doesn’t feel too good.”
“I bowled wicket to wicket and the yorker came off. Dedicate this to my brother,” said Mohammad Naveed after picking up the Man of the Match award.
— with inputs from AFP