UAE demolish China with mammoth 209-run victory

Al Dhaid : UAE extended their victory run in the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Twenty20 Championship by registering a 209 runs victory over China at the Shaikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

Meanwhile, at the Al Dhaid Cricket Village, Afghanistan, which is another strong contender for the title, scored an emphatic eight wicket win over Saudi Arabia. It was a one-sided match for UAE, which had already qualified for the semifinals. They won the toss and elected to bat. China's opening bowlers Wang Lei and Zhang Yufei clean bowled UAE openers Mohammad Iqbal (36) and Amjad Javed (20) respectively. One-drop batsman Arfan Hyder hit a quick 36 and Naeemuddin Aslam also chipped in with 22 runs.

Skipper Khurram Khan and Fayyaz Ahmed virtually thrashed the Chinese attack to put on 99 runs for the fifth wicket. Khan cracked a breezy 64 in just 30 balls with eight fours and two sixes while Ahmed hit 46 off just 17 balls with four boundaries and three sixes.

UAE posted 236 for 5 in 20 overs.

Chasing the huge total, China found UAE's bowling attack too tough to handle. Their opener Wang Dianyi got clean bowled by Zahid Shah for a duck while his partner Li Jian too was clean bowled by Amjad Javed for zero.

Fahad Hashmi took two quick wickets and the score board read four wickets down for seven runs. Ahmad Raza, struck repeatedly to take three wickets from his two overs and China got bundled out for 27 runs.

Scores

In Abu Dhabi: UAE bt China by 209 runs. UAE 236 for 5 in 20 overs (Mohammad Iqbal 30, Amjad Javed 20, Arfan Hyder 36, Naeemuddin Aslam 22, Khurram Khan 64, Fayyaz Ahmed 46n.o, Li Jian 2 for 21) China 27 in 15.1 overs ( Fahad Al Hashmi 2 for 8, Ahmed Raza 3 for 2).

In Dhaid: Afghanistan bt Saudi Arabia by 8 wkts. Saudi Arabia 72. Afghanistan 70 for 2 in 8 overs.

In Sharjah: Oman bt Malaysia by 35 runs. Oman 197 for 5 in 20 overs. Malaysia 162 for 8 in 20 overs.