+ A
A -
Tribune News Network
MUSCAT
Qatar spurned a glorious chance to beat the No. 1 team of the Gulf - United Arab Emirates - as they lost the ACC Western Region T20 Tournament semi-finals by 28 runs at the Al Amerat Ground in Muscat on Wednesday.
Their bowlers, led by skipper Iqbal Hussain Chaudhry and Muhammad Nadeem, shot out 15th world-ranked rivals at 122 in 18.4 overs. But Qatar’s batsmen flopped for a second match in a row and collapsed at 99 to lose the match and the gilt-edged opportunity to create a history in the sport.
Chasing a modest target, Qatar slumped to four down for 18 before a small 24-run between Mohammed Rizlan and Tamoor Sajjad seemed to be stablising the innings. The departure of the Qatar vice-captain Rizlan at 42 opened the floodgates and Al Annabi skidded to be all out off the final ball, falling well short of the target.
Sajjad led the scoring for Qatar with 29, including four boundaries, captain Chaudhry chipped in with 19, which had two fours. Junaid Siddique was the chief destroyer with four for 12. Zahoor Khan picked three for 17 and Ahmed Raza got two scalps for 21.
Earlier, Chirag Suri top-scored for the UAE with 38. Sultan Ahmed and Vritya Aravind added 18 each. Chaudhry was impressive with four for 16. Nadded grabbed three wickets for 27 and Gayan Munaweera returned two for 21 figures.
Unbeaten UAE will clash with Kuwait in the final on Thursday. Kuwait beat Bahrain by 87 runs in the other semi-final. Kuwait amassed 210 for four and skittled out the rivals for 123 in 17 overs to post a facile victory.
MUSCAT
Qatar spurned a glorious chance to beat the No. 1 team of the Gulf - United Arab Emirates - as they lost the ACC Western Region T20 Tournament semi-finals by 28 runs at the Al Amerat Ground in Muscat on Wednesday.
Their bowlers, led by skipper Iqbal Hussain Chaudhry and Muhammad Nadeem, shot out 15th world-ranked rivals at 122 in 18.4 overs. But Qatar’s batsmen flopped for a second match in a row and collapsed at 99 to lose the match and the gilt-edged opportunity to create a history in the sport.
Chasing a modest target, Qatar slumped to four down for 18 before a small 24-run between Mohammed Rizlan and Tamoor Sajjad seemed to be stablising the innings. The departure of the Qatar vice-captain Rizlan at 42 opened the floodgates and Al Annabi skidded to be all out off the final ball, falling well short of the target.
Sajjad led the scoring for Qatar with 29, including four boundaries, captain Chaudhry chipped in with 19, which had two fours. Junaid Siddique was the chief destroyer with four for 12. Zahoor Khan picked three for 17 and Ahmed Raza got two scalps for 21.
Earlier, Chirag Suri top-scored for the UAE with 38. Sultan Ahmed and Vritya Aravind added 18 each. Chaudhry was impressive with four for 16. Nadded grabbed three wickets for 27 and Gayan Munaweera returned two for 21 figures.
Unbeaten UAE will clash with Kuwait in the final on Thursday. Kuwait beat Bahrain by 87 runs in the other semi-final. Kuwait amassed 210 for four and skittled out the rivals for 123 in 17 overs to post a facile victory.
