Dubai: Batsmen Amjad Ali, Swapnil Patil and Saqib Ali all scored half-centuries as UAE chased down Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) challenging total of 267 for 7 to earn a seven-wicket victory with ten balls to spare at the Garden Oval Ground in Darwin, Australia, on Thursday.
It was the UAE’s second successive win following their four-wicket triumph over Northern Territory on Wednesday in the ongoing International Cricket Council (ICC) High Performance Programme (HPP) matches for the four qualifiers to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, which will be held in Australia and New Zealand.
Opener Amjad set the momentum for the chase with his second half-century in a row by hitting 56 in 55 balls with eight boundaries.
Patil and Saqib completed the task with an unbeaten 147-run partnership for the fourth wicket in 28 overs. Saqib hit an unbeaten 73 off 87 balls with ten boundaries and Patil remained unconquered on 72 off 85 balls with nine boundaries and a six.
Amjad told Gulf News: “I just went out and played each ball on its merits and decided to stay as long as possible. This worked very well for me to give a good start.
“As a senior member of the team, it brings me more responsibility and hence I wanted to add as many runs as possible with my partners. I am delighted that I am able to get runs and hopefully score a century during this tour,” added Amjad, who fell after helping UAE score 124 runs in their first 20.4 overs.
He put on 50 for the opening wicket with Mohammad Shahzad, who was promoted up the batting order. After Shahzad fell for 24, Amjad added 71 for the second wicket with Andri Berenger, who hit 33 with two sixes and a boundary.
Patil and Saqib batted confidently despite mounting pressure to maintain the run rate. Saqib, who is one of the UAE’s finest batsmen but was yet to play a big knock on the tour, hit boundaries with ease. Patil, who guided his side home with an unbeaten 32 against Northern Territory, also scored at a breezy pace.
Earlier, UAE won the toss and elected to field. After pacer Mohammad Naveed dismissed PNG opener Lega Siaka caught behind for three, the other opener Tony Ura and Assad Vala put on 71 for the second wicket.
Off-spinner Nasir Aziz removed Vala for 38 and Ura for 73, but Vani Morea swelled PNG’s total with a knock of 61.
Aziz picked up three wickets for 35 runs, backed up by skipper Khurram Khan and Naveed with two wickets each.
