UAE beat Papua New Guinea by 82 runs

Sport360 staff 22:39 31/03/2017
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  • Imran Haider starred for UAE

    The UAE registered their first victory in the World Cricket League Championship (WCLC) since June 2015 with a superb all-round performance to stun Papua New Guinea

    At Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Stadium, the hosts were dominant in both the bat and ball and ran out convincing 82-run winners after the south-western Pacific nation fell short of their 292 target.

    While the result still keeps the tourists in second position, the victory was the UAE’s  second of the 50-over competition and first since their five-wicket win over Kenya almost two years ago.

    Prior to the match, UAE captain Rohan Mustafa told Sport360 that all the pressure would be on PNG and they were certainly in for a tough day in the capital.

    Having been put to bat, Dougie Brown’s men found themselves at 80-3. But a solid 69-run stand between Ghulam Shabbir (50) and Rameez Shahzad (87) revived the innings. Muhammed Usman upped the ante with an unbeaten 58 (4x6s and 1×6) from just 38 balls while Mohammed Naveed, fresh from his exploits at the Hong Kong T20 Blitz, smashed 34 (3x4s and 2x6s)from 15 deliveries.

    In the last 10 overs, a total of 120 runs were scored as the UAE posted a highly competitive total of 292-5.

    In reply, PNG started well with their openers  Tony Ura (61) and Vani Morea (32) putting on 82 but once spinners Imran Haider and Ahmed Raza were given the ball, the duo did the damage.

    Haider claimed 4-49 while Raza took 3-30 including two wickets in two balls. For Haider, it was his second four-wicket haul in four ODIs. “It was a great win for us today,” said the 29-year-old leg-spinner.

    “They couldn’t deal with the spin and gives us great confidence.”

    The second match takes place Saturday at the same venue.

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