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UAE Suffer Painful Blow

Saqib Ali,s brilliant all-round performance failed to earn a victory for UAE against Ireland in World Twenty20 qualifiers in Dubai on Friday.

The former captain hit 66 and bagged two wickets but failed to stop Ireland from registering a 22-run victory in the Super Four stage.

Ireland won the toss and elected to bat. William Portefield and Niall O,Brien opened the innings and the intentions were very clear from the start. Both the players played positively.

Portefield was particularly harsh on the bowlers as the left-hander hit some wonderful shots in the beginning of the innings to put UAE under pressure. They reached 27 in just three overs with Zubair Qassim conceding 22 runs in his first two overs.

UAE introduced spin early in the form of Saqib to stem the flow of runs and he tasted the success by catching Portefield off his own bowling. Portefield made quick 22 off 13 deliveries including four fours.

Saqib struck again by removing Andre Botha for just three runs which brought UAE back into the game.

Ireland reached 50 mark in 8^th over with Alexander Cusack and O, Brien at the crease.

Ireland lost their second wicket in the 11^th over when Khurran Khan got rid of Cusack. Now David Johnston joined O,Brien in the middle with Ireland on 61/3 in 10 overs.

Ireland reached 100 mark in 15^th over. Ireland got a double blow in 16^th when Qadar Nawaz removed Johnston (19) and O,Brien (46). Nawaz struck again in his next over to get rid of Niall to make it 117/7.

UAE failed to bowl well in the death overs which helped Ireland reach 152/7.

In reply, Mohammed Iqbal and Arfan Haider opened for UAE but both the openers were back in the pavilion in the very first over to leave UAE reeling on 9/2. Ireland kept the pressure on and UAE lost their third wicket when Fayyaz departed in third over. Now captain Khurram Khan joined the Saqib Ali at the crease. UAE raced to 50 in 6^th over with Saqib and Khurram on the crease.

But Khurram who looked good and played some beautiful straight shots was undone by Cusack who took the blinder off his own bowling. UAE 100 was up in 15^th over. UAE kept on losing wickets in regular intervals and were bowled out for 130 in 19.1 overs.

Khurram Khan said: “We were well on course when Saqib was there but lost the way. We missed two many chances in fielding by giving away too many runs and dropping some easy catches.

“We still have a time to look back and address the problems for tomorrow’s crucial match.

“Afghanistan have some top players including Mohammed Nabi and Hamid Hassan but we are ready for the challenge.”

Man-of-the-Match Alexander Cusack said: “We set a good total and we are happy to win this game. Just one more game and we will be in the final.

“The Netherlands is a good side but we are ready to take on them. I expect a tough match tomorrow.”

liaqat@khaleejtimes.com