Afghanistan snap UAE's victory run

Dubai : Afghanistan snapped UAE's victorious run in the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Twenty20 Championship with an exciting one-wicket victory at the Shaikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

In a nail-biting finish, Afghanistan's last-wicket pair of Hamid Hassan and Shahpoor Zadran held their nerves to put on 22 invaluable runs and guide their team to victory. Hassan remained unconquered with 19 runs after Afghanistan were reduced to 123 for 9, chasing UAE's 144 for 8 in 20 overs. Needing ten runs to win off the last two balls, Hassan hit a boundary and a six off UAE skipper Khurram Khan.

Earlier, UAE won the toss and elected to bat. They lost an early wicket when opener Mohammad Iqbal fell for nought to Zadran. Amjad Javed and Arfan Hyder put on 65 runs for the second wicket before Javed was bowled by Hassan for 30 and Hyder too fell for 34 runs. Naeemuddin Aslam, who was stroking the ball well, was then run out for 27 and the Afghanistan bowlers bowled a tight line to restrict UAE to a modest total.

Afghanistan too began their chase badly losing their opener Noor Ali Noori for a duck. Moin Shahid then dismissed one-drop batsman Mohammad Shahzad for one and Qasim Zubair bowled Nowroz Mangal for one.

Opener Karim Sadiq and Mohammad Nabi took the score to 55 but Khurram Khan struck twice to dismiss Sadiq for 34 and Nabi for 15. Middle-order batsman Samiullah Shinwari cracked 34 runs and No.9 Khaleqbad Noori hit a timely 30. Zubair then took three wickets before the last-wicket turnaround.

In the semifinals, UAE will now take on Omanwhile Afghanistan will meet Kuwait.

Summarised scores:

In Abu Dhabi: Afghanistan bt UAE by one wicket. UAE 144 for 8 in 20 overs (Amjad Javed 30, Arfan Hyder 34; H.Hassan 2 for 18, S.Shinwari 2 for 21) Afghanistan: 145 for 9 off 20 overs (K.Sadiq 34, S.Shinwari 34, K.Noori 30; Qasim Zubair 3 for 26, Khurram Khan 2 for32)

Man of the Match: Hamid Hassan.

In Sharjah: Oman bt Kuwait by 86 runs. Oman: 217 for 4 off 20 overs (H.Desai 63, M.Hussain 48, A.Ilyas 48n.o; A.Mohammad 2 for 24) Kuwait: 131 off 19.3 overs (S.Govind 32; A.Khan 2 for 36, H.Mehta 2 for 11, A.Ali 3 for 14) Man of the Match: Hemin Desai.

Hong Kong bt China by 75 runs. Hong Kong: 124 for 8 off 20 overs (W.Lei 3 for 15)

China: 49 off 18.5 overs (N.Ahmad 3 for 10 ,N.Ali 2 for 7) Man of the Match: Irfan Ahmad and Wang Lei

In Abu Dhabi: Malaysia bt Qatar by 16 runs Malaysia: 182 for 5 off 20 overs (S.Kumar 85n.o, S.Navaratnam 31; A.Khan 3 for 23, S.Badsha 2 for 19). Qatar: 166 for 7 off 20 overs (U.Taj 33, H.Zada 52; T.Kodikara 2 for 36, D.Muthuraman 3 for 29) Man of the Match: Suhan Kumar.