DUBAI // The Desert Twenty20 may be a brand new tournament – and it is the start of a new year – but old habits continue to plague the national team.
The sort of batting meltdown that has become all too common for the UAE over the past 18 months struck again, as they fell to a 24-run loss to Ireland at the Dubai International Stadium.
It was a second defeat in three days, meaning the home side exited the first edition of this new competition at the pool stage.
After Ireland posted 160 for six from their 20 overs, on the back of customary powerful hitting from Kevin O’Brien and Paul Stirling, the hosts succumbed with barely a whimper.
Rohan Mustafa fell to the first ball of the reply to Boyd Rankin. By the time 3.4 overs had been sent down, UAE were five wickets down.
Even by the meagre recent standards, this was bad.
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The Emirates Cricket Board says it is almost ready to announce the identity of their new coach, nearly eight months after Aaqib Javed gave up the role to return to Pakistan.
The appointment cannot come soon enough, as results continue to spiral downwards.
Owais Shah, the former England batsman, has been holding the fort of late in an interim capacity.
Despite having scored over 32,000 runs in his professional career, even he has been powerless to stop the batting malaise.
“Unfortunately no one put their hand up out of the top six, to say, ‘Right, it’s my day, I’m going to take the team home’,” Shah said.
“One of the guys normally picks the bat up and you bat around that guy. It didn’t happen for us today.”
More alarmingly for the national team, it was not just the batting that misfired.
The fielding was abject, as the team visibly appeared to lose faith in their own abilities to stop or catch the ball after the first early fumble.
Shah said the team “weren’t at the races”, while Amjad Javed, the captain thought the players lacked belief they could beat a side regarded as one of the best among Associate nations.
“The self belief for winning the match was missing from the players,” Amjad said.
“When you don’t believe or back yourself to chase a total like this, I think that is why we lost early wickets, which cost us the game.”
For Ireland, the comprehensive victory – which looked a lot closer after Amjad hit three sixes off the final over with the game already lost – was another sign they are finding their feet again.
The Irish are top of the Intercontinental Cup, the four-day league for Associate nations, at present, but have struggled in the shortest format of late.
The win over UAE secured their passage to tomorrow’s play-offs, and they will be eyeing a place in the final, possibly against their regular rivals Afghanistan.
“Over the past couple of days I have felt like we have been on that little upwards curve you need in a competition,” Will Porterfield, Ireland’s captain, said.
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