Esha Oza says the UAE need more matches against cricket’s elite if they are to turn narrow losses into wins over top sides.
For half of the match in their final Women’s Asia Cup group match against Bangladesh on Tuesday night, they seemed bound for an upset.
Suraksha Kotte bowled brilliantly in the powerplay as Bangladesh, who are former winners of this competition, struggled to bring the pedigree to bear.
Kotte took 3-11 from four overs of her mystery spin, as the touring side struggled to make any headway at the Dubai International Stadium.
The host nation’s fearless effort with the ball was summed up by 15-year-old all-rounder Janani Thirukkumaran.
Bowling the penultimate over of the innings, she took a wicket and conceded just five runs, as Bangladesh were restricted to 103-7 from their 20 overs.
Home hopes were soaring at the prospect of securing their biggest win to date. They could not manage it, though, as they could muster a mere 69-9 in reply.
It was a familiar feeling. The last time the UAE faced a leading side on home soil in a seminal match, they fell just short in a run chase against Sri Lanka.
That game in Abu Dhabi cost them an appearance at a T20 World Cup. This loss deprived them of a semi-final against India later this week.
Oza, the team’s captain, said she was proud of the effort and thrilled with the bowling performance.
But she acknowledged the batting failings need to be addressed if the national team are to make serious progress.
She feels that more frequent fixtures against sides from cricket’s Test-playing nations is vital for her players to feel like they belong.
“I think more matches would definitely help,” Oza said. “With more matches, it’s about the experience; it's the learnings.
“I think what we learned from them today is how they built a partnership after being under pressure when they lost the first six wickets. And that's something we required today but we couldn't pull off.
“What can bridge the gap between us and full members [Test-playing countries such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka] I would think is batting.
“And the more we play against those kinds of bowlers, I think we would improve as batters as well.
“That would help us improve our decision-making and maybe even help us believe in ourselves a bit more, so that when we face them, we can get the better of them as well.”
Oza said the home dressing room was infused with belief that they could chase the target down and create history when the sides swapped around between innings.
“We definitely believed we could do it,” she said.
“It was all about just applying ourselves a bit better and maybe with better shot selections and we would have gotten there.
“Our bowlers gave us a great start. We had Bangladesh under pressure from the start; we had a good powerplay, a good first 10 overs. But we have a lot to work on as a batting unit.
“When you give it your all in the first innings, expectations were high. We wanted to get there, but, again, there is a lot to work on.”
