UAE sink Thailand to reach ACC Trophy quarterfinals

The UAE team extended their victory run in the ACC Trophy through an emphatic 10-wicket win over Thailand yesterday.

The UAE, who had won all their first round matches, have made it to the quarterfinals of the event. They will meet Malaysia in the last eight stage tomorrow.

The UAE had beaten Singapore by 233 runs in their first match and registered 10-wicket victories over Qatar and Thailand.

Thailand won the toss and elected to bat at the Selangor Turf Club wicket. Medium-pacer Ahmed Nadeem picked the first wicket when he had opener D. Sarapp bowled for 1.

One-drop S. Saeek and A. Tanwani kept the scoreboard moving before Syed Maqsood had Saeek trapped leg before for 10.

Meanwhile, Nadeem had Tanwani caught behind by Mohammed Nadeem for 13.

Maqsood struck again to have next man Z. Khan caught by Asghar Ali for 2.

Rizwan Latif claimed two quick wickets with his left-arm spin while Sameer Zia too chipped in with two.

Off-spinner Mohammed Tauqir, who destroyed Qatar's batting in the last match with a four-wicket haul, added two more to his total without conceding any run from the seven balls he bowled in this match.

Except for three Thailand batsmen, none of the others reached double figures.

In fact, Thailand would have been shot out for even smaller total had UAE not given away 24 extras.

The UAE went into the match resting their two consistent openers Asim Saeed and Arshad Ali.

Asghar Ali opened the innings with Fahad Usman. Ali batted comfortably against the Thailand attack to remain unbeaten on 41 (33b, 9x4) while Usman, who joined the team after a tour of England with the Fly Emirates team, remained unbeaten on 33 (32b, 4x4).

Malaysia, who will meet UAE in the quarterfinals, beat Saudi Arabia by 65 runs. Oman stopped Hong Kong by 11 runs while Qatar trounced Singapore by seven wickets.

Scores

Thailand 78 in 28.1 overs (Ahmed Nadeem 2 for 20, Syed Maqsood 2 for 27, Sameer Zia 2 for 14, Rizwan Latif 2 for 6, Mohammed Tauqir 2 for 0) lost to UAE 80 for no loss in 16 overs (Asghar Ali 41n.o, Fahad Usman 33n.o).
Man of the match: Asghar Ali