The UAE failed to secure their place in the Super Six phase of the World Cup qualifiers after losing by 53 runs to Scotland in a rain-affected match that was reduced to 28 overs per side.
Khurram Khan’s side had made light work of Nepal in the opening match and once again impressed as they comfortably defeated Canada in their second match of the pool stage of the competition.
However, they were up against it from the very start against Scotland as openers Matty Cross and Callum MacLeod put on 178 for the opening wicket, with Rohan Mustafa finally making the breakthrough when he clean bowled the wicket-keeper batsman for 88.
MacLeod continued the onslaught before eventually falling to Mustafa for a magnificent 113 from just 62 balls.
Scotland’s middle order all chipped in with quick-fire runs as they eventually made 265-6, with Mustafa picking up his third wicket and fellow fast bowler Mohammad Naveed eventually finishing with three wickets from his six overs.
It was a huge score from Scotland and the pressure was immediately on the UAE openers as they knew that they would need to score at nearly 10 runs an over.
The task became even more difficult when Salman Farris fell for a seven-ball duck, while Amjad Ali would fall for 11, with Scotland quick Iain Wardlaw claiming both scalps.
UAE captain Khan would provide some resistance as he hit 87 from just 54 balls, and he was ably supported by Shaiman Anwar whose 36 from 21 deliveries gave the Emirates a chance.
Once the duo had departed there was little resistance as Scotland’s bowlers ripped through the middle order and the tail, with Majid Haq claiming 3-45 and Wardlaw eventually finishing with figures of 3-35 from his six overs.
Swapnil Patel would hit 41 from 35 balls but Scotland would emerge victorious and will now hope they can qualify for the Super Six phase despite losing their opening match to Hong Kong at the start of the competition.
UAE will face Hong Kong in their final group game in what will be an extremely tough match against a side full of confidence after securing a 10-wicket victory over Nepal to move top of Group A.
Meanwhile unbeaten Namibia continued to top Group B on run-rate after the Netherlands defeated Papua New Guinea by 130 runs.
