Abu Dhabi: Skipper Muhammad Waseem and Alishan Sharafu struck quick-fire fifties before Junaid Siddique’s (4/23) fine bowling display, as UAE overwhelmed Oman by 42 runs to keep their hopes of making the Super Four alive in the Asia Cup here on Monday.
Waseem anchored the UAE innings with a 69 off 54 balls, getting out only in the last over, while his opening partner Sharafu blazed away to 38-ball 51 after a scratchy start to guide UAE to 172 for five after being sent in.
The total proved to be more than enough for the home team and victory against Pakistan on Wednesday could take them into the next stage of the continental tournament, assuming an India win against Oman in their last group game.
Oman were all out for 130 in 18.4 overs.
Siddique removed both the Oman openers Aamir Kaleem (2) and skipper Jatinder Singh (20) with just 23 runs on the board.
Left-arm spinner Haider Ali (2/22) then picked up two wickets to leave Oman in deep trouble at 50 for five in the seventh over.
Aryan Bisht and Vinayak Shukla tried to stabilise the innings as Oman reached 74 for five in 10 overs.
However, having added 38 runs for the sixth wicket with wicketkeeper Shukla, Bisht was bowled by Muhammad Jawadullah (2/18), the left-arm pacer striking in his first over after the batter attempted to play an inside-out shot over cover while exposing all his stumps.
Jawadullah then accounted for the wicket of Jiten Ramanandi (13), and Siddique too added to his tally, as UAE inched closer to victory.
Earlier, left-arm medium pacer Ramanandi helped Oman pull things back for a while and ended with fine figures of 2/24 in four overs, after Waseem and Sharafu’s brisk start.
After a quiet first over, the adventurous Sharafu got a boundary through a packed off-side field off Shah Faisal, even as Shakeel Ahmed kept the run-scoring in check at the other end initially.
Looking to take on the bowlers by coming down the track repeatedly, Sharafu found the fence twice against Faisal, hitting him over mid-on before employing the cut shot against a short and wide delivery for another four.
Captain Muhammad Waseem, the UAE’s best batter who is known for his aggressive approach and ability to play big shots, got into the act and fetched himself three boundaries in Aamir Kaleem’s first over, the 43-year-old left-arm spinner hardly posing any threat as he ended up giving away 14 runs.
Back on strike, Sharafu launched into medium pacer Hassnain Shah for three successive fours as the batter continued to step out of the crease and make room for himself.
Thanks to the urgency of the openers, UAE scored 50 runs in the powerplay.
Hoping for a breakthrough, Oman skipper Jatinder Singh introduced let-arm seamer Jiten Ramanandi into the attack, and Sharafu struck him through the off-side for a boundary.
Jatinder made another bowling change, bringing in leg-spinner Samay Shrivastava but Sharafu and Waseem were equal to the task, the batters hitting a six each to continue the home team’s onslaught.
Luck was with Waseem as Hammad Mirza dropped a catch off him after misjudging the ball in the deep, as UAE reached 83 for no loss in 10 overs.
Waseem got another life right after the drinks break, Shakeel being the culprit this time.
However, Ramanandi soon gave Oman something to cheer about when he bowled Sharafu, disturbing the off-stump after the batter again made room to play through the off-side, only to miss it completely.
Both Oman and UAE lost their opening matches of the tournament to Pakistan and India respectively.
