Abu Dhabi: UAE have done what would have been a distant dream until a week ago. A win was needed against Oman and UAE got that in convincing fashion by 71-runs to seal their berth in the Asia Cup starting from February 24. An accomplishment which is UAE’s biggest since they played at the 2015 World Cup after 19 years.
Aaqib Javed and his team, thus, completed a clean sweep in the qualifying tournament for Asia’s biggest cricketing showpiece in Bangladesh. UAE had earlier defeated favourites Afghanistan by 16 runs and then Hong Kong by 6 wickets to top the standings with an all-win record. They will now vie against the big boys of Asian cricket – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and hosts Bangladesh.
There were jubilant scenes in the UAE camp and coach Aaqib, after being carried on the shoulders by the players, credited the success to the exceptional cricket his boys played all through the qualifiers.
“They played really good cricket; three in a row and you can’t ask for more. We had six tough months as we had several players retiring after the 2015 World Cup. There were 11 new players and slowly, we are getting into the system. We are trying to get professional players in the system as well soon,” said a beaming Aaqib, adding that the key to UAE’s success was the way his pacers, especially, Naveed Mohammad bowled.
“Naveed made the difference as he is consistently bowling at the 140kph mark and he set the tone. At this level, if you have four good seamers who can hit the deck, then you can trouble any team,” revealed Aaqib.
UAE bowlers were right on the money after their batsmen made sure that Oman had a challenging total of 172 to surpass. And once they claimed three wickets in just 2.1 overs, Oman were clearly in troubled waters from where they could have barely managed to swim ashore. By seven overs, Oman were reduced to 38 for 5 with Naveed and Qadeer Ahmad sharing the spoils with two wickets apiece and skipper Amjad Javed claiming one. Naveed, who was also on a hat-trick, eventually finished with figures of 2 for 14. Mohammad Shahzad, Ahmad Raza and Rohan Mustafa claimed a wicket apiece and Oman could only manage 101 for 8 in 20 overs.
Earlier after being put into bat, the UAE openers were lucky to survive some close calls as the ball swung around initially. However, it was an irresponsible running on the part of Mustafa (5) that allowed Oman the early breakthrough.
Thereafter, Muhammad Kaleem and Shahzad steadied the innings with a partnership of 86 for the second wicket. Kaleem scored a 40-ball 50 before being caught on the third attempt at the boundary ropes by Jatinder Singh.
Just when UAE were gearing up to launch their attack for a big total, they lost two quick wickets. Slow left-arm orthodox bowler Aamir Kaleem did the damage with the wickets of Shaiman Anwar (12) and Shahzad (34). From 109 for 2, UAE were reduced to 111 for four and it looked as if they would fall short of a competitive total.
The runs came in a trickle for UAE until the 17th over but Mohammed Usman kept the best for the last. Eighteen runs came in the 18th over from Bilal Khan where Usman clobbered him for two sixes and a boundary to get UAE close to the 150 mark.
In the last two overs, UAE managed 13 runs each and it allowed them to post a challenging total of 172 for 6 in 20 overs. Usman, trying to accelerate, was out in the final over but his 22 ball 46 had provided that much needed impetus to the UAE innings.
In the other contest, played earlier in the day, Najibullah Zadran and Mohammad Nabi came up with career-best T20 international performances against Hong Kong to give Afghanistan an outside chance of qualifying for the main draw of the Asia Cup, in case UAE ended up losing against Oman.
Zadran smashed 60 off 35 balls to see Afghanistan post a daunting 178 and then Nabi’s 4 for 17 ensured that they restricted Hong Kong for a score under 124 to make sure that their net run rate remained above that of UAE. Hong Kong looked set to get to 124 and deny Afghanistan any sniff at qualifying. Nevertheless, after being 95 for 3, they lost seven wickets for 17 runs and folded up for 112 in 17.1 over, handing Afghanistan a 66-run win.
Brief Scores: Afghanistan beat Hong Kong by 66 runs. Afghanistan 178 for 7 (Najibullah Zadran 60*, Stanikzai 49, Aizaz 3-38) beat Hong Kong 112 (Rath 41, Nabi 4-17) by 66 runs.
UAE beat Oman by 71 runs. UAE 172 for 6 in 20 overs (Muhammad Kaleem 50, Mohammad Shahzad 34, Muhammad Usman 46, Aamir Kaleem 4 for 36) Oman 101 for 8 in 20 overs (Zeeshan Maqsood 46, Mohammad Naveed 2 for 14, Qadeer Ahmad 2 for 25).
