UAE crush Oman to secure second win
UAE secured their second successive victory in the Asian Cricket Council Twenty20 Cup ousting Oman by a thumping seven wickets in their second Group B match on Wednesday in Nepal.
Chasing an easy target of 83 to win, opener Abdul Shakoor looked to be in a hurry during his nine-ball stay smashing two boundaries and as many sixes to race to 22 before he succumbed.
Bakhtiyar Hamid Palekar, who was out for a duck in the first match, began with a boundary but held his aggressive instinct for a while before he settled down to score a gritty 28 from 38 balls containing four boundaries.
He shared a quick 34-run for the second wicket with Amjad Ali who scored a 16-ball 20 comprising four boundaries.
Swapnil Patil was unbeaten on eight and Rohan Mustafa, who finished it with style hitting a six to get the winning runs, ensured there was no further damage as UAE got past the target in the 13th over. Mustafa earned his second successive man of the match for his performances.
Earlier, put in to bat first, Oman were completely out of sorts losing two wickets for only seven runs. Jatinder Singh and skipper Vaibhav Wategaonkar tried to resuscitate the innings for a brief while before Singh departed scoring 14 from 17 balls consisting of two boundaries.
While Wategaonkar held the innings firm at one end he could only helplessly watch as his teammates succumbed to the guiles of Mustafa and Fayyaz Ahmed. While Mustafa bowled a brilliant spell to bag three wickets in his four overs conceding only 11 runs, Ahmed took two during his four overs leaking 22 runs.
Wategaonkar scored a fighting 40 from 45 deliveries with the help of two fours and a six to remain unbeaten till the end as Oman were bundled out for a meager 82 in 18.1 overs.
UAE, who have already qualified for the global qualifiers being the host nation, have four points from two matches and they next play Afghanistan on Saturday, March 30.
Brief scores:
UAE bt Oman by seven wickets.
Oman: 82 all out in 18.1 overs (Jatinder Singh 14, Vaibhav Wategaonkar 40 not out; Rohan Mustafa 3 for 11, Fayyaz Ahmed 2 for 22). UAE: 84 for three in 12.3 overs (Bakhtiyar Hamid Palekar 28, Abdul Shakoor 22, Amjad Ali 20). Man of the Match: Rohan Mustafa.