The UAE will play Nepal for a place at the Asia Cup on Saturday, having sealed a place in the ACC Premier Cup final in fine style.
Haider Ali took six wickets as the national team crushed Hong Kong in the semi-final in Kuala Lumpur. After firing out Hong Kong for a mere 70, the UAE batters chased the target in just 11.1 overs, winning by seven wickets.
It sets up a winner-takes-all fixture against the side they so often face in such situations – Nepal, who beat Oman in their semi-final on Thursday.
The UAE made it to the last Asia Cup, which was played in the T20 format, after beating Nepal in the decisive game in the qualifying tournament in Oman.
In the previous edition, the reverse had occurred, with Nepal beating the UAE in the final in Kathmandu to earn ODI fixtures against India and Pakistan in the Asia Cup.
That is the prize which awaits the winners of the final in Malaysia on Saturday. Only the champions of the 10-team Premier Cup will advance to face the elite of continental cricket.
The UAE will be well aware of the strength of their rivals in the final, but must be optimistic given the form they have shown of late. The thrashing of Hong Kong was their sixth win in a row in 50-over internationals.
Haider’s haul of 6-14 included two double-wicket maidens. Fellow left-arm spinner Aayan Khan went for just six from seven overs and picked up a wicket, while Adeeb Usmani also took two wickets after taking off the wicketkeeping pads to bowl seven overs of spin.
And Stanley Chioza, the UAE fielding coach, will have been particularly pleased with what he saw.
With conditions assisting the bowlers, the UAE rammed home the advantage with a sparkling display in the field. That showed in particular with brilliant close-to-the-wicket catches by captain Harpreet Bhatia and Akhsdeep Nath.
“It is a very special performance for us as a team because we really needed this,” Haider said, after winning the player of the match award.
“It was simple; stick to the plans we had discussed last night with the coach [Lalchand Rajput] and Manpreet-sir [Sidhu, the video analyst].
“The skipper is always supporting us, not just me but all the bowlers, and the fielders backed us up. Harpreet and Akshdeep both had very special grabs.”
Harpreet was similarly complimentary about Haider, who had been light on wickets previously in the tournament.
“Haider bowled superbly,” Harpreet said. “He hadn’t been taking wickets in the past two games but I was very sure about him because he was bowling very well.
“Coach Lalchand Rajput has been supporting all the players. He always tries to give extra innings to the batters and extra innings to the bowlers, and always backs the players.”
The UAE beat Hong Kong with such haste that they had time to tune in to the second innings of the Nepal-Oman fixture.
Dipendra Singh Airee had scored a half-century to drag Nepal to 147 at the Bayuemas Oval, which will host the final. On a wicket that was taking pronounced turn, the chase was always going to be tough for Oman.
So it proved, as they were bowled out for 60, with Sandeep Lamichhane, the Nepal captain, taking 3-9, as they won by 87 runs.
