UAE clinch series with a 6-wicket win over Hong Kong

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) clinched the tri-nation ODI series with an impressive six-wicket win against a promising Hong Kong side at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday (26 January). UAE batted sensibly and reached their target of 175 without much fuss in 38.1 overs.

Hong Kong were asked to bat first after Rohan Mustafa won the toss. The openers started off well putting in a 47-run stand before UAE came back in the game to restrict the opposition to 100/7. Nizakat Khan (93) turned out to be the lone warrior as he held one end up, but he found no support from the other end. The only other major contribution came from the bat Cameron McAuslan (27).

Nizakat was dismissed the 48th over, caught at midwicket trying to pull a short ball from Zahoor Khan before the quickie floored the opposition in no time. Imran Haider was the pick of the bowlers for UAE, as he bagged figures of 4/25. Zahoor Khan finished with 3/29.

Chasing a modest 175 runs to win in 50 overs, both the UAE openers Mohammed Qasim and skipper Mustafa forged a 76-run stand before the latter went back to the pavilion scoring 42. Qasim followed him soon after getting trapped in front but the innings was steadied by Shaiman Anwar, who scored a half-century off 62 balls.

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For Hong Kong, Ehsan Khan picked up 3 wickets for 30 runs, while Nizakat collected one wicket. Imran Haider was awarded the man of the match award for his match winning figures with the ball (4/25).

They had won their first game against Scotland by 4 wickets before topping the table with this emphatic win against Hong Kong. They were earlier knocked off by Ireland during the Desert T20 Challenge, which took place in Dubai earlier this month. The hosts failed to chase down Ireland’s score of 160, as they bundled up for 136/7, losing the game by 24 runs.

Brief scores:

Hong Kong: 174 all out in 48.5 overs (Nizakat Khan 93; Imran Haider 4-25, Zahoor Khan 3-29)

UAE: 175/4 in 38.1 overs (Shaiman Anwar 50; Ehsan Khan 3-30)

Man of the match: Imran Haider (UAE)