UAE brew a shocker

UNITED Arab Emirates entered their final game of the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier with little more than pride to play for, having lost all their games against the other Super Sixes sides up to this point.

But they played as if there was much more at stake, beating Zimbabwe by three runs in a pulsating game that all but knocked the hosts out of qualification contention.

Only an unlikely low-scoring tie between Ireland and Afghanistan in the final Super Sixes fixture today can still send Zimbabwe through.

It was a game that swayed to and fro with neither side ever holding the ascendancy for long.

Zimbabwe drew first blood having won the toss and chosen to bowl, the dismissal of Ashfaq Ahmed (10) coming as early as the fourth over, but that was the only bit of cheer they had for a while.

Rohan Mustafa, the captain, supported the excellent Ghulam Shabber in a 74-run stand for the second wicket. The pair were never bogged down; they played positively, kept the scoreboard moving and, when given the chance, they looked for the ropes.

The 50-run mark of their partnership came up in the 14th over, but as is so often the case, a drinks break was followed by a breakthrough – Sikandar Raza trapping Mustafa in front as he attempted a reverse sweep for 31.

One wicket brought two, Raza striking again as Shabber looked to sweep but exposed his middle stump and was bowled for a 40. At this point, UAE were 106/3, but Shahzad and Shaiman Anwar compiled another partnership to frustrate the home side and the sizeable crowd that had gathered at the stadium.

There were no boundaries for a while as the two batsmen focused on settling down and rotating the strike, but Shahzad got going in the 31st over.

He found the fence off both Sean Williams and Blessing Muzarabani, the former even being taken for an insideout six over cover.

Shahzad brought up his half-century off just 51 balls and looked for more, but was done in by the extra bounce of Tendai Chatara and sliced a skier to cover, precipitating a slide from 180/3 to 198/6 before the tail wagged.

Mohammad Naveed, who scored an enterprising 45 against Afghanistan in the previous game, once again swung his bat around, hammering three consecutive boundaries off Kyle Jarvis.