The Asia Cup qualifiers got off to an exciting start as United Arab
Emirates (UAE) rode on Rohan Mustafa's magical all-round show to pull
off an upset by beating favourites Afghanistan in the high-scoring
opening match at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah yesterday
evening.
The night match between Oman and Hong Kong was a high-scoring
thriller which saw Oman prevail by five runs, but not before Hong Kong
batsman Babar Hayat played an innings to remember, scoring 122 of his
side's 175 runs.
Back to the first game, Rohan first struck a 50-ball 77 to give UAE a
fighting total of 176 and then finished the job with the leather by
taking three wickets in an over to secure a 16-run victory as
Afghanistan were bundled out for 160 with one ball to spare.
The match was a tale of two knocks but Rohan, who smashed seven fours
and four sixes, came out on top as Karim Sadiq's 48-ball 72 went in
vain because of the failure of the rest of the Afghanistan batsmen.
Afghan captain Asghar Stanikzai blamed a poor fielding effort behind
their disappointing defeat which now makes it difficult for them to
qualify to the main event of the tournament, which will kick off on
February 24 at Mirpur. He however has not given up hope. “If UAE loses
against Hong Kong or Oman we need to win the next two matches with a
good run-rate. We have a chance if we don't lose our patience,” said
Asghar.
UAE openers Rohan and Mohammad Kaleem set the tone after UAE won the
toss. The runs came thick and fast as Kaleem complemented match hero
Rohan well during the course of a quick 83-run opening stand before
Rashid Khan struck.
The 17-year old leg-spinner Rashid brought the Afghans back in the
match by dismissing Shaiman Anwar and Amjad Javed off consecutive overs
as UAE, who looked set to get close to 200 at one stage, slipped from
121 for one to 128 for four. But Usman Mushtaq (23) and Mohammad Shahzad
(25) gave the finishing touch for UAE.
Afghanistan's chase however never achieved the required pace as Sadiq did not receive any able support from his teammates.
There was even less support for Hayat in the day’s second match. Oman
had chosen to bat and rode on 42 from opener Jatinder Singh and a late
burst from Amir Ali to post 180 for five. Apart from Hayat's glittering
60-ball 122, the next highest score for Hong Kong was 15 by Aizaz Khan.
Hayat hit seven sixes and nine fours in a heroic effort, but the 181-run
target proved to be just out of his reach. With 11 needed off the last
three balls of the match, Hayat was caught at long-off trying to hit his
eighth six.
Scores in brief
UAE: 176 for 4 in 20 overs (Mustafa 77, Kaleem 25, Shahzad 25;
Rashid 3-25)
AFGHANISTAN: 160 all out in 19.5 overs (Sadiq 72; Mustafa 3-19, Naveed 2-23, Ahmed 2-28)
Result: UAE won by 16 runs
OMAN: 180 for 5 (Jatinder 42, Amir 32 not out, Mehran 28 not out; Nadeem 3-27)
HONG KONG: 175 for 7 (Hayat 122; Amir 1-6, Bilal 1-28, Lalcheta 1-29)
Result: Oman won by 5 runs
