Shaiman Anwar continued his run glut for the national team as the UAE got their World Cup qualification campaign off to the perfect start with a 102-run victory over Nepal.
The stocky batsman is known on the domestic cricket scene as “Sixer Shaiman” because of his capacity to clear the boundary rope.
He lived up to that moniker yesterday as he hit eight sixes in his innings of 109, which was the centrepiece of the UAE’s total of 297 for eight at the World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand.
“Shaiman played a gem of an innings,” said Mansoor Pasha, the UAE team manager. “Once he gets started he doesn’t look back, especially against spinners.
“These are very good wickets in New Zealand and there is nothing to fear for the batsmen. Everyone is confident.”
The comprehensive win was all the more impressive because the side have had to undergo a radical shift in ethos since arriving in New Zealand.
None of the national team’s three leading spinners, on whom the whole game plan during the preceding qualifying league campaign was based, was playing against Nepal.
Ahmed Raza, the vice captain, and Shadeep Silva were both omitted from the side, while Nasir Aziz, the most prolific wicket-taker in UAE cricket, has still yet to join the squad.
In their stead came a battery of pace bowlers who have been light on match action of late.
Given the UAE routinely enter matches with a maximum of one seam bowler, Kamran Shahzad, Manjula Guruge, Amjad Javed and Mohammed Naveed might have needed to be introduced to each other before this tour.
However, as soon as they were pitched into competitive action together, they thrived.
Given the accepted knowledge about the conditions in New Zealand, the pace bowlers were always likely to have a role to play.
But Aaqib Javed, the UAE coach, had planned to load the attack with pace for this fixture, figuring that Nepal’s batsmen are rarely exposed to such bowling.
The former Pakistan seam bowler was proved correct. Guruge, Javed and Shahzad shared seven wickets between them, while Naveed assisting in the prize wicket of Nepal’s captain Paras Khadka, by catching him off Javed’s bowling.
“We believed their weakness was fast-bowling, we picked four fast bowlers and they executed the plan,” Pasha said.
“Nepal are very good on spinning wickets. We had no Nasir, no Shadeep, and they were looking for them. We were not on the back-foot for a single over in the game.”
In the other match in the UAE’s group, Hong Kong caused a surprise by beating Scotland by 17 runs. Aaqib had regarded Scotland as the national team’s biggest threat in the first round, but they were conquered by the third Asian side in the pool. An innings of 75 by the opener Irfan Ahmed was the basis of Hong Kong’s 263, and Scotland fell short despite a century by Preston Mommsen.
The UAE’s next fixture is against Canada tomorrow.
pradley@thenational.ae
