The UAE are just one win away from securing their place at next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand after defeating Kenya by 13 runs to sit atop of the Super Six Table.
The success also ensured One Day International Status for the UAE, while victory over Namibia on Thursday would secure a World Cup berth for the first time since 1996.
Should the UAE qualify this time around then captain Khurram Khan will deserve much of the credit. He was once again the star of the show as he top scored with a majestic 85 as the Gulf nation posted a competitive total of 246/8.
Khan has now scored four fifties and one century, as well as collecting three man-of-the-match awards and recording an impressive average of 83 from his six matches.
The Airline flight purser was ably assisted lower down the order by his Emirates colleague Amjad Javed who smashed 63 from just 31 balls to help the UAE post a competitive total.
Mohammad Naveed, Manjula Guruge, Kamran Shazad and Javed then picked up nine wickets between them as Kenya fell agonisingly short, despite impressive contributions from the lower and middle order batsman.
Kenya had started well as once again the UAE’s opening batsman failed to impress. Salman Faris was replaced with Chirag Suri but the opener would fall for just four, while Amjad Ali could only muster three runs.
Kenya’s Nehemiah Odiambo was doing the damage but captain Khan was next to the crease as he helped anchor the innings before falling prey to a Duncan Allen delivery that was caught by Rakep Patel.
Javed entered the fold with UAE six-down and his quick fire 63 would include five four’s and three sixes as Khan’s side looked set a total in advance of 250.
Eventually they fell just short of their target as Nehemiah Odiambo picked up four wickets, while Duncan Allen picked up two to make sure the Kenyan batsman would be set an achievable total.
However, they made the worst possible start when losing opening batsmen Alex Obanda in the first over, but fellow opener Irfan Karim steadied the ship as he added 39 from 56 balls before falling to Shazad.
Morris Ouma (42) and Collins Obuya (41) looked to have handed the advantage to Kenya but the UAE kept picking up wickets at crucial times throughout the innings.
Kenya did receive a slice of luck in the 47th over when UAE wicket keeper Patil incurred a five run penalty for stopping the ball by throwing his glove at it, but they never looked like reaching their target of 247.
Wicketkeeper Rakep Patel made 27 and there were double figure contributions from all of the tail but Odhiambo was left stranded on 20 not out as Shazad secured the victory for the UAE by taking the final wicket of Hiren Varaiya as Kenya were eventually all out for 233.
Elsewhere, Hong Kong beat Namibia by 76 runs with Mark Chapman (82) and Nizakat Kahn (85) impressing with the bat, while Scotland beat Papua New Guinea by 52 runs.
