UAE storm into Asia Cup T20
Emiratis outplay Oman for third straight victory in four-team qualifying league
dubai — The UAE joined the ‘big brothers’ in the main draw of the the Asia Cup T20 cricket tournament with an unbeaten record in the qualifiers in Bangladesh.
The Aqib Javed-trained team on Monday defeated Oman by 71 runs at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur. This was the third straight victory in as many matches for the UAE, who finished on top of the table.
The Asia Cup proper, starting on Wednesday, features the Test playing nations in the continent. The UAE, the only side outside the elite nations in the main tournament, play their first match against Sri Lanka, on Thursday.
On Monday, Oman, qualifiers for the next T20 World Cup, found the UAE a difficult proposition to set aside.
Skipper and allrounder Amjad Javed, told Khaleej Times: “We did creditably with a consistent show and the wonderful feeling is that during the final league qualifying fixture tonight (Monday), we were able to work on the small problems we experienced in the first two outings.
“The fielding and economical bowling were all there to defend the respectable first innings total tonight (Monday) and they outdid everyone else with sheer length and line throughout.”
On the probable post match celebrations that was in store for the side later in the night, Javed, said: “It’s going to be a half an hour’s drive due to the congestion in traffic, after that well, the side is free to do whatever they want as long as they keep to the basics off the field too, like they were on the field the past four days.”
“Playing Sri Lanka on Thursday in our opening match in the Asia Cup T20 proper is a big occasion for the UAE to showcase the talent and skills existent in the UAE today. The team is looking forward to putting up a determined effort against the Test nations in the tournament,” added Javed.
Sent in to bat first, the UAE were propelled to 172-6 from their 20 overs thanks to opener Muham- mad Kaleem (50 off 40 balls, five 4s, two 6s), Man of the Match, Muhammad Usman (46 from 22 balls, six 4s, two 6s) and the consistent Mohammad Shahzad (34 from 31 deliveries, four 4s) as Oman’s Aamir Kaleem tried hard to contain the run flow with a haul of 4-36.
Oman, in their chase started shakily and were soon at a precarious 38-5. Except for opener Zeeshan Maqsood’s brave 46 there was hardly any resistance from the Oman team.
Medium pacer Qadeer Ahmed (2-15) who replaced left-arm spinner Farhan Ahmed for the match and newball partner Mohammad Naveed (2-14), sent back four batsmen to see the red-shirted Omani men struggling.
Soon the cause looked lost for good when the rest of the batters followed in similar fashion as the UAE’s Amjad Javed, Mohammad, Rohan Mustafa and Ahmed Raza all got into the act with one wicket each.
Earlier Afghanistan defeated win-less Hong Kong by 66 runs to keep themselves in the hunt for the top spot in the one-round league.
Pre-event favourites Afghanistan put up a solid looking178-7 from their allotted share of overs to which Hong Kong replied with 112 all out in 17.1 overs, to register a comfortable 66-run victory. After the win the Afghans were left to hope for a three-way tie on the points table but the UAE’s commanding show put aside all doubts.
Najibulla Zadran top scored for Afghanistan with a 48-ball 60 containing three 4s and four 6s while off spinner Mohamad Nabi, the Man of the Match, dismissed four Hong Kong batsmen for just 17 runs with his quota of four overs.