UAE breeze into ACC semifinals

Al Dhaid: UAE scored an emphatic nine-wicket victory over Saudi Arabia at the Al Dhaid Cricket Village ground to enter the semifinal of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Twenty20 Championship on Tuesday.

Through a tight bowling attack, UAE restricted Saudi Arabia to 101 for 6 in the 20 overs and raced to victory in 11 overs. Opener Mohammad Iqbal cracked an unbeaten 71 off 37 balls with seven boundaries and five sixes.

"We have played very well as a team. The youngsters in the squad have chipped in very well in all the three games and we hope to play in the same manner in the coming matches too," Khurram Khan, the skipper of the UAE team told Gulf News.

"Ahmad Raza has bowled very well and Amjad Javed too batted splendidly. Our new left-arm pacer Moiz Shahid is also bowling very well. We have two more group matches [against China and Afghanistan] before the semifinals and we will try and win them too," added Khan.

Saudi Arabia won the toss and elected to bat. Moiz Shahid struck right away, bowling opener Hammad Saeed and Mohammad Abdullah for ducks.

Meanwhile, Fayyaz Ahmad had Suharab stumped for 9. Off spinner Mohammad Tauqir dismissed opener Shafi Ahmad, who held on to score 27. Saudi Arabia would not have reached the 100-run mark but for Mohammad Nadeem's knock of 29 runs.

UAE opener Iqbal and Amjad Javed went for their shots. Javed fell for 14 after registering an opening partnership of 64 runs in just 4.4 overs. Amjad Ali joined Iqbal and steered the team to the target.

Summarised scores:

At Al Dhaid: UAE bt Saudi Arabia by nine wickets. UAE 101 for 6 in 20 overs (Shafiq Ahmad 27. Mohammad Nadeem 29, Mohammad Tauqir 2 for 11, Moiz Shahid 2 for 3) UAE 102 for 1 in 11 overs (Mohammad Iqbal 71n.o) Man of the match: Mohammad Iqbal.

In Abu Dhabi: Nepal bt Kuwait via Bowl Out 3-2. Kuwait: 123 off 19.1 overs (Y. Idrees 28, H. Mirza 34, S. Raza 27; B. Regmi 2for 10, D. Chaudhary 4 for 11) Nepal: 123 for 7 (M. Alam 32, B. Bhandari 25n.o; K. Yameen 3-15).

Afghanistan bt Hong Kong by 120 runs: Afghanistan: 222 for 5 (M. Shahzad 74, M. Nabi 65, S. Shafaq 34n.o; N. Amar 2 for 44) Hong Kong: 102 for 9 (K. Noori 2 for 16, M. Nabi 2 for 34, S. Shinwari 2 for 11) Man of the Match: Mohammad Nabi.

In Sharjah: Saudi Arabia bt China by 55 runs. Saudi Arabia: 155 for 7 off 20 overs (M.Abdullah 63; L.Jian 3 for 19) China: 100 for 7 off 20 overs (J. Shuyao 24, W. Lei 25;S.Ali 2 for 17, H.Anwar 2 for 23) Man of the Match: Mohammad Abdullah.

At Al Dhaid: Malaysia bt Bahrain by 84 runs. Malaysia: 218 for 4 (D. Warsuwitharane 51, R. Madhavan 35, A. Faiz 39n.o, S. Navaratnam 20, T. Kodikara 46) Bahrain: 134 for 9 (A. Mughal 63, H. Naseer 20; S. Navaratnam 3 for 39, T. kodikara 2for 26, E. Azis 2 for 22) Man of the Match: Thushara Kodikara (Malaysia).