MUSTAFA: ‘LUCK WAS WITH US’ AS UAE BEAT NAMIBIA
Combined with Nepal’s win against Canada, Emirates into World Cup Qualifier
UAE captain Rohan Mustafa said his players had saved their careers after the national team advanced to the next phase of World Cup qualifying on a nerve-shredding day in Namibia.
Mustafa bowled the final over that clinched a 19-run win over the host nation in the World Cricket League Division 2 at Affies Park in Windhoek.
However, had Nepal and Canada tied their own final pool match, both those sides would have advanced at the expense of the UAE.
Playing on the adjacent field at Wanderers Sports Club, which is less than 100 yards away from Affies, the scores were level between those two sides with just one ball remaining.
Nepal scored the single they needed to win the game, and by turn send the UAE through to the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe next month.
“To be honest, I was not aware [that a tie between Nepal and Canada would have sent UAE out] until someone told me they had just chased it on the last ball,” Mustafa said. “Somewhere, somehow, you need to find some luck.
“The luck was with us.” Failure to progress from this competition would have had severe ramifications for cricket in the UAE.
It would have meant an immediate end to one-day international status, and therefore a dramatic reduction in financing from the ICC.
Any shortfall in future funding would have an impact on many areas of the elite game in the Emirates, including on the professional contracts a number of the players have.
“I am usually calm because I am used to bowling the death overs, but today it was something different for us, because I think it could have been our careers over,” Mustafa said. “I can’t tell you about the past three days. We had a very good team, and we were expecting something different [better results at the tournament].
“Yesterday, I woke up 22 times in the night. I was so tense. Thanks to everyone from the UAE who has sent so many messages, telling us guys to be ourselves and play as we can.”
The national team might yet lose their ODI status. They have to finish in the top three out of Scotland, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, Nepal and themselves when they play in Zimbabwe next month to safeguard that status.
There is, of course, also the ultimate incentive of a place at next year’s World Cup in England at that competition, too.
“Genuinely, the past three days have been the longest three days of my life,” UAE coach Dougie Brown said.
“The pressure over the course of this whole tournament up to this point has been ridiculous, as it has been for all the coaches and players of every single team.
“We all know what we are playing for. We are playing for our livelihoods, our actual existence.
“Non-qualification from here didn’t bear thinking about. At one stage, after we lost to Nepal, we thought it was a distinct possibility. We actually thought we were out of the competition at that stage.”
Shaiman Anwar top-scored with 77 to take the UAE to 247-6 from their 50 overs.
The Namibians fell short after Mustafa and Amir Hayat took three wickets each.
“We were pressurised before the match,” Shaiman said. “Everybody is happy because we can go to Zimbabwe and try to retain our ODI status. We will try our best over there.”
And, relax. Rohan Mustafa, UAE cricket’s Captain Fantastic, said he had woken 22 times in the night on the eve of their final pool match in the World Cricket League Division 2, so tense had he been.
Coach Dougie Brown, who probably thought he had experienced most things the game had to offer in 18 years as a first-class cricketer, said it had been the longest three days of his life.
Even at the halfway stage of the decisive match in Windhoek, with spirits lifted by a skilful batting display that left Namibia needing 248 to win, the players were on edge.
“Now, pray,” said Mohammed Usman, who had just played a fine hand with the bat himself.
Even the weather was dramatic. Play was delayed for 30 minutes midway through Namibia’s reply when an electrical storm skirted past the ground, refusing to fully unload its contents but playing havoc with wrought emotions anyway.
Had the rain fallen in the sort of torrent that seemed to be happening nearby, and ended the game there and then, the UAE would have progressed to the next stage of World Cup qualifying.
They were 20 runs ahead on the Duckworth-Lewis calculation at the time. On the neighbouring field, Canada were far enough ahead that they would have advanced with the UAE, too. But they went back out, the games restarted from the same spot, and all those whose livelihoods depended on the outcome plugged themselves back in to the metaphorical cardiograph.
Namibia got close. But not close enough. Yet even in their moment of glory, UAE might still have been denied.
Had Nepal tied with Canada next door, those two teams would have advanced instead of the UAE. A number of players and even members of the coaching staff were unaware, or had forgotten, that was the case until well after the event.
Perhaps their glorious oblivion was for the best. That scenario was one ball away from coming to pass.
And now, they can all breathe again. Or at least they can for three weeks or so, until they head to Zimbabwe for the World Cup Qualifier and go through this all again.
They will still be playing for their careers when they get there. They need to finish among the top three out of five Associate nations – which does not included Netherlands – in the Qualifier to retain all the privileges that come with being a one-day international side.
But they will be better for this experience.
“Every single ball, there is something riding on,” Brown said of the WCL adventure in Namibia.
“If you get it right, that is good, if you get it wrong, that is disastrous. That is pretty much how it is. It is completely extreme.
“I am delighted to be going to Zimbabwe. I must admit I didn’t want to think about the consequences of us not doing that.”
Maybe, too, the players that faltered as the UAE stuttered their way – albeit ultimately successfully – through this week’s competition will find their best form again in Zimbabwe.
Shaiman Anwar, the senior batsman in the team, has already hinted at a return to past glories.
He saved his best for the very last, scooping the match award for the classy halfcentury that set up the 19-run win over Namibia.
“As a senior player, I thought we have to stay there,” Shaiman said. “I thought if I could stay to the end of the innings, we can put a good score on the board, that would be helpful for the team.
“More than 200 at this ground was going to be a good total because, the past couple of matches, 180 was the par score, so 200 was a good total. We got 247, and Namibia played well, but we finished well.”
For the record, they have one more match in the WCL Division 2, the small matter of the final against Nepal today.
It would be surprising whether either side could really give two hoots about that fixture. For each of the finalists, mission has already been accomplished.
Every single ball, there is something riding on. If you get it right, that is good, if you get it wrong, that is disastrous. That is pretty much how it is. It is completely extreme DOUGIE BROWN UAE coach