Dubai. UAE opener Rohan Mustafa scored half the runs of his team’s total against England Lions at the Dubai International Stadium before losing the second match of the unofficial three match series.

The UAE had lost the first match by eight wickets on Friday and the second by 100 runs on Saturday to lose the series. The fighting knock from Mustafa came in the second match with the UAE being bowled out for 90 runs while chasing England’s total of 190.

In the first match, the UAE scored 174 runs in 45.3 overs. In that match too Mustafa was the second highest scorer with 33 runs. Ghulam Shabber too scored 33 runs while Mohammad Shazad top scored with 38 runs.

Speaking to Gulf News, Mustafa said: “It was a great experience to play the top England Lions’s bowlers especially opening the innings. It has added to my confidence. I would have been delighted if I could have guided my team to victory too.”

Mustafa’s fighting 45 in the second innings in a total of 90 came off 79 balls. Despite wickets falling at the other end he held on and became only the eighth batsman to be dismissed. “I wanted to stay on but I got caught at short leg. My aim is to always convert my good starts into a big score. Before this match in the practice games for ECB Green I hit 137 against ECB Blues. I also scored 60 in another match against ECB Blues. I am always looking for ways to improve my batting,” said Mustafa, who was the winner of Shyam Batia annual award for best batsman.

England Lions raced to victory in the first match in 33.1 overs through Keaton Jennings’s unbeaten 101. Jennings cracked the ton soon after he was selected into the England Test squad to play against India in the remaining two Test matches along with Liam Dawson. Both Jennings and Dawson are likely to make their Test debut in the next Test against India at Mumbai.

The UAE was restricted to 174 runs by medium pacer Stuart Meaker who bagged four wickets for 38 runs from his ten overs. It was Meaker who ended the 54 runs second wicket partnership between Mustafa and Ghulam Shabber by having Mustafa caught behind for 33 runs.

In the second match the destroyer of UAE innings was Surrey pacer Thomas Curran. He bagged five wickets for 16 runs from his eight overs.

Brief scores:

First One-dayer: England Lions bt UAE by 8 wickets. UAE 174 in 45.3 overs (Rohan Mustafa 33, Ghulam Shabber 33, Mohammad Shahzad 38) England Lions 175 for 2 in 33.1 overs (DJ Bell Drummond 40, Keaton Jennings 101n.o) Man of the match: Keaton Jennings

Second One-dayer: England Lions bt UAE by 100 runs. England 190 in 47.3 overs (Tom Alsop 44, Thomas Curran 40, Amjad Javed 2 for 42, Qadeer Ahmad 2 for 42, Mohammad Qasim 2 for 29, Mohammad Shahzad 2 for 4) UAE 90 in 29.2 overs (Rohan Mustafa 45, Ghulam Shabber 27, Thomas Curren 5 for 16, Jack Leach 3 for 7) Man of the match: Thomas Curran.