UAE wins ACC Trophy in cricket

Three sixes in an over by Mairaj Khaliq to surpass Hong Kong total of 186 exemplified the mood in the UAE camp as they lifted the ACC Trophy yesterday at the Sharjah Stadium with three wickets in hand six overs spare.

It was a dream come true for the UAE skipper Saeed Al Saffar, who had waited for this moment since 1996. "I would be wrong if I say that I have waited for this moment alone, Abdurazzak Kazim is more responsible in achieving this feat than anyone else," the emotionally charged UAE skipper Al Saffar told Gulf News after receiving the ACC trophy from Jagmohan Dalmiya, the Asian Cricket Foundation  Chairman.

Electing to bat, Hong Kong struggled against the UAE seamers under cloudy weather, especially against left-arm seamer Asim Saeed (10-1-32-4).

Asim troubled the Hong Kong batsmen so much that Saffar persisted with him for an extended spell of eight overs. Asim removed three top  Hong Kong batsmen in his first spell.

Asim then came back for his second spell in the death overs and removed danger man Rahul Sharma (78, 129 balls, four 4s, two sixes) to terminate the  42-run eighth wicket partnership. Sharma could have spelled danger by going after the bowlers in end overs.

While Aseem provided important breakthroughs, the Hong Kong batsmen made UAE's task easier. At a time when need was to step up the scoring rate, four late order Hong Kong batsmen ran themselves out.

The hosts were indebted to MashreqBank's Mehmood Pir Baksh (56, 89 balls, three 4s), who finally lived upto his own potential to hold one end. The others, as if in a hurry to get past the Hong Kong total, threw their wickets away, including skipper Saffar (22, 28 balls, one 4, one 6) , who ran himself out when he was middling the ball perfectly.

"The boys, I think panicked a bit, they wanted to finish off the match quickly," the UAE coach Naved Anjum told Gulf News.
"There was no need for 'airy-fairy' shots but they went for it," he said, adding that the bottom line was, "we won in the end."