Victory over Qatar sees UAE progress to next stage of Asia Cup qualifying

The UAE cricket team was last in competitive action in February and it is still unclear when their next match will be due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Pawan Singh / The National

UAE maintained their hopes of playing alongside the likes of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as they secured progress for the next stage of Asia Cup qualifying.

The national team beat Qatar by 28 runs in the semi-final of the Western Region T20 at the Oman Cricket Academy in Al Amerat on Wednesday.

It means they advance to a four-team competition in Malaysia in August, the winner of which will qualify for the Asia Cup T20 a month later.

They had to survived a scare, though, against a Qatar side who had already caused the major shock of the tournament by beating Oman.

The little-heralded Qatar side dismissed UAE for 122 with eight balls of the innings left unused.

Only Chirag Suri, who had made consecutive 50s in the previous two matches, spent any appreciable time at the wicket. He top scored again with 38.

UAE supporters would have been nervous at the halfway point, but the side’s bowlers once again proved their appetite for defending relatively modest totals.

Junaid Siddique was the pick of the bowling attack, taking four for 12 from his four overs as Qatar could only make 94 all out.

UAE will play Kuwait in Thursday’s final, after they thrashed Bahrain by 87 runs in the other semi-final on the adjacent field in Al Amerat.