United Arab Emirates 154 for 5 (Aryansh 74*, Sohaib 51, Zafar 3-14) beat Canada 150 for 7 (Thaker 50, Dhaliwal 34, Siddique 5-35) by five wickets
UAE were themselves down in the dumps at 66 for 4, before this pair added 84 of the 85 runs required at that stage. With eight needed from the last over, Aryansh struck a six off the first ball and then took a single. Sohaib top edged Jaskaran Singh to fall with UAE needing one off three balls before Muhammad Arfan scored the winning run.
Zafar puts pressure on UAE
Kaleem Sana had the UAE captain Muhammad Waseem caught at midwicket for four in the third over. Zafar then removed the other dangerman, Alishan Sharafu, in the seventh over to give Canada the early advantage. Sharafu couldn’t clear Nicholas Kirton at covers and fell for five.
Zafar was stingy and kept his subtle change of pace going, removing Mayank Kumar for four in the 11th over. Kumar’s intention to belt him down the ground only found Sana at long-on. In his next over, Zafar had Harshit Kaushik caught at deep midwicket.
Sohaib brings UAE back into contest
UAE had their backs to the wall as they needed 56 runs in the last four overs. Sohaib hit Dilon Heyliger for two sixes and a four. He first smoked him over midwicket for a maximum, followed by a lofted shot over mid-off for four, and a six straight into the sight-screen. After the 17-run over, Sohaib got stuck into Jaskaran with a four and a six off the first two balls of the 18th over.
He then cracked two more fours to start Sana’s penultimate over, before the left-arm quick’s beamer hurt wicketkeeper Shreyas Movva. Another top edged boundary and a straight hit for two got Sohaib to his half-century off just 28 balls, leaving UAE eight to win from the last over.
Siddique bosses powerplay, death overs
The 33-year-old Siddique began UAE’s push when he had Dilpreet Bajwa caught at mid-off in the second over for 11. Yuvraj Samra mistimed a pull to mid-on in Siddique’s next over. When Muhammad Jawadullah had Nicholas Kirton caught behind in the sixth over, UAE gained a stronghold in the game.
Thaker’s lone hand
Thaker survived an lbw appeal against Jawadullah in the first ball he faced. He waited for a few more deliveries before depositing Haider Ali for a four and a six in the next over. Thaker then thwacked Muhammad Arfan for his second six, as he and Navneet Dhaliwal added 58 runs for the fourth wicket.
Dhaliwal, who made a half-century against South Africa in Canada’s previous game, struck four boundaries in his 34 off 28 balls. His run-out was unfortunate when Dhaliwal’s bat got stuck just outside the crease. Thaker later fell on exactly 50 off 41 balls, with two fours and three sixes, though Thaker held together the UAE innings till the 18th over.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84
