UAE captain Rohan Mustafa believes the fast bowlers must shoulder some responsibility for their 73-run defeat to Scotland in their World Cup Qualifier on Thursday.
It was a tough day for the UAE bowlers as Scotland reached an imposing total of 322-6 in their 50-overs in the Super Six clash at Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Matthew Cross led the way for the European side with 114 runs, his second ODI century.
In the end, the target proved to be too much for the UAE as they were all out for 249 despite the brave efforts of Muhammad Usman (80) and Ahmed Raza (50). Although their chances were slim, the result meant that the UAE’s hopes of reaching their second successive and third World Cup is over with two matches to play.
Mustafa stood out with the ball with four wickets, while spinner Imran Haider and medium-pacer Zahoor Khan shared one scalp each.
Fellow fast-bowler Mohammad Naveed was the most expensive out all the bowlers after going for 6-68 despite only bowling eight overs.
But Mustafa was critical of his bowlers, particularly the pacers, who were unable to chip in with wickets at a time when they really needed them.
Scotland and UAE are gearing up for their first #CWCQ Super Six clash at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo! #UAEvSCO pic.twitter.com/2seiBwg7RH
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) March 15, 2018
“I think to be honest if I have to say that our fast bowlers didn’t bowl really well,” he said during his post-match press conference.
“I will give credit to Scotland but our bowlers didn’t do much on this type of wicket. As you saw our fast bowlers have not been taking much wickets apart from Papua New Guinea, so I think that’s the thing that has been disappointing.
“This kind of wicket was a very slow wicket and it was turning at the start of the day as well. It was not easy but the guys managed to get beyond the 250 mark. We gave away too many runs in the bowling to be honest and their batsmen played really well and took advantage.”
They will be aiming to get their first Super Six points on board when they take on hosts Zimbabwe and Afghanistan within the next week.
Mustafa says his team-mates can take a leaf of how Mohammad Usman and Ahmed Raza performed against Scotland. Usman and Raza put on a 105-run stand for the seventh wicket and the skipper added: “That’s the bright point. Even if you stay on a wicket, what those boys did was exceptional. They stayed at the wicket over a long time and scored the runs. We will play hard in the remaining games and hopefully take some points.”
