Dubai: The UAE reached the semi-finals of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Western Region T20 tournament being held in Oman. Rohan Mustafa displayed his all-round skills to play a pivotal role in UAE’s impressive victories over Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
In the first match of the tournament against Iran on Sunday, Mustafa bagged two wickets for six runs along with skipper Ahmad Raza (2-24) to restrict Iran to 61-8. The UAE, chasing the target, won by 10 wickets in just 5.3 over through Mustafa’s quick unbeaten 41 off 18 balls with eight boundaries and one six. Chirag Suri too remained unbeaten on 15.
In the second match on Monday night, UAE defeated Kuwait by 47 runs through Mustafa’s man-of-the-match performance of 51 runs and his tight bowling. UAE posted 186-5 in 20 overs through Mustafa and opener Chirag Suri’s 51. Together they put on 96 runs in 11.2 overs. Basil Hameed and Mohammad Usman chipped in with 23 and 26 runs respectively.
Kuwait were bowled out for 139 in 17.4 overs despite opener Ravija Sandaruwan’s fighting knock of 49 runs. Two-drop batsman Mohamad Aslam hit 30 runs before being bowled by Mustafa. Waheed Ahmad and Zahoor Khan ended Kuwait’s innings with three-wicket spells.
The UAE also beat Saudi Arabia by 12 runs on Tuesday morning. Riding on opener Suri’s brilliant 75 runs off 55 balls with six boundaries and three sixes, The UAE posted 150 runs in 20 overs. Mustafa, who batted down the order, scored 30 runs despite Abdul Wahid bowling brilliantly to take four wickets for 14 runs.
Saudi Arabia put on a strong resistance but were restricted to 138-7. Mustafa and Raza took two wickets.