United Arab Emirates inched closer to the main round of the Asia Cup Twenty20 following their six-wicket win over Hong Kong in the qualifying round at Fatullah’s Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium yesterday.
UAE made a flying start to the tournament, defeating favourites Afghanistan, and they continued the good run against Hong Kong, who suffered their second loss in as many matches. A win in their last game against Oman today will be enough for UAE to progress to the main round where hosts Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka lie in await.
Riding on Mohammad Shahzad’s 39-ball 52 and Muhammad Usman’s 39-ball 41, the Emirati side romped home with nine deliveries to spare.
In pursuit of 147, UAE lost both their opening batsmen – Muhammad Kaleem (four) and Rohan Mustafa (10) early but a 79-run stand for the third wicket between Shahzad and Usman guided their side to safety.
Earlier, Hong Kong posted 146/7, largely thanks to a 45-ball 54 from Babar Hayat. But only three others reached double figures as Hong Kong were unable to register a challenging total. UAE’s Mohammad Naveed (3/14) was the chief architect behind Hong Kong’s modest total while captain Amjad Javed picked up two wickets.
Besides the UAE-Oman clash today, Afghanistan will also take on Hong Kong and both the matches will be held at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
