Dubai: The UAE extended their winning run to five matches by beating Bermuda in the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cricket League Division Two match to register a clean sweep over all its opponents.
They will now take on Namibia in the final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium today.
The architects of UAE's 43-run victory were opener Amjad Ali, who cracked a brilliant 57 and off spinner Nasir Aziz, playing his first match and producing a fine spell of 4 for 44.
Electing to bat, UAE scored an impressive 257 for 9 through Amjad's half century and good contributions from all their top order batsmen.
Breakthrough
Openers Amjad Ali and Arshad Ali put on 55 runs in the first 11 overs. David Hemp providing the breakthrough by trapping Arshad leg before for 20.
Naeemuddin Eslam joined Amjad and took the score to 115 by the half way mark. Eslam fell for 29 runs off 40 balls.
The in-form Saqib Ali accelerated the run rate after Amjad was trapped leg before by Rodney Trott. Amjad's innings contained seven boundaries.
Caught behind
UAE skipper Khurram Khan and Saqib went for their shots.
With the score on 174, Khan was caught behind by Jason Anderson off Irving Romaine for 25.
When UAE were four runs short of the 200-run mark in the 42nd over, Saqib departed for 42 off 39 balls, containing four fours and a six.
Shaiman Anwar (23) and Amjad Javed (22) played useful knocks to swell the UAE's total and post a challenging run rate of 5.14 runs per over.
Bermuda's opener Dion Stovell gave them an aggressive start but Arshad trapped his partner Anderson leg before for 17.
Chris Fogo and Stovell took the score to 75 in just 18.5 overs before Nasir Aziz, playing his first match for UAE, had Foggo stumped by Amjad for 13.
Partnership
Captain Hemp and Stovell further strengthened Bermuda's position through a 73 runs partnership for the third wicket.
Left-arm spinner Ahmad Raza, the star of UAE's victory against Hong Kong with a four-wicket spell, provided the breakthrough. He trapped Stovell leg before for 77 runs. Stovell's 94-ball innings contained six fours.
Arshad struck again to pick up the prize wicket of Hemp, caught by Khurram Khan for 39 and also dismissed Fiqre Crockwell for 13 runs.
Bermuda slipped into further trouble when Aziz struck twice. He had Romaine caught by Anwar for 18 and Lionel Cann stumped by Amjad for 17.
He also dismissed Trott for two runs to extend UAE's winning streak.
Scores
UAE bt Bermuda by 43 runs UAE 257 for 9 in 50 overs (Amjad Ali 57, Arshad Ali 20, Naeemuddin Aslam 29, Saqib Ali 42, Khurram Khan 25, Shaiman Anwar 23, Amjad Javed 22, Irving Romaine 4 for 37, Rodney Trott 3 for 42) Bermuda 214 in 48 overs ( Dion Stovell 77, David Hemp 39, Arshad Ali 3 for 38, Ahmed Raza 2 for 34, Nasir Aziz 4 for 44).
