Esha Oza guides UAE to victory in ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier

The UAE and Thailand registered impressive wins at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in Abu Dhabi on Monday. The wins kept alive the teams’ hopes of reaching the semifinals.

At Tolerance Oval, Thailand beat Uganda by nine wickets, while UAE claimed an emphatic 10-wicket victory under the Zayed Cricket Stadium lights.

Both matches were dominated by the bowlers of the winning teams, who ripped through their opponents’ batting line-ups with superb pace and spin bowling displays.

Equally, UAE’s openers ensured that their bowlers’ hard work paid off, with a scintillating chase led by captain Esha Oza’s outstanding 66 not-out.

The Netherlands’ decision to bat first backfired as the UAE’s bowlers tore through their batting line-up. The Player of the Match in the win against Vanuatu, Sterre Kalis, fell for a first ball duck to Samira Dharnidharka in the opening over of the match. The loss of the star batter rattled the side as UAE’s bowlers tightened their grip.

Netherlands were reduced to 49 for four and seemed to recover well when they reached 82 for four in the 14th over.

The match took a dramatic turn however, when Netherlands lost four wickets for the addition of just three runs, 82 for four tripping to 85 for eight in a space of 11 balls. The last two wickets added 16 runs as Netherlands finished their 20 overs at a disappointing 101 for nine.

Dharnidharka was the pick of the UAE bowlers, her seam bowling earned her three wickets for 11 runs in four overs. Khushi Shamra and Vaishnave Mahesh took two wickets each, both conceded 16 runs in their three and four-over spells respectively.

Robine Rijke’s 44 (36 balls, five fours, one six) was the only notable performance with the bat for the Dutch.

UAE’s openers got off to an aggressive start in their batting reply, with Oza leading the way with a brilliant knock of 66 off 39 deliveries (nine fours, two sixes).

Oza displayed her incredible shot range in a brisk innings which helped UAE improve their net run-rate considerably, following their defeats to Ireland and Zimbabwe in their opening matches. Oza finished the match with a big six over wide mid-wicket as UAE completed the chase with 49 balls to spare.

Oza’s opening partner Theertha Satish provided her wonderful support with an unbeaten 36 off 33 balls. Satish stroked five fours in her innings as the helpless Netherlands bowlers finished the innings wicket-less.

The big win keeps the UAE’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals from Group B alive.