Ghulam Shabbir belatedly got his UAE career up and running, after hitting a half century to set up a 40-run win over Oman in Dubai.
The wicketkeeper-batsman was given one of the Emirates Cricket Board’s first professional contracts earlier this year, only to then miss out on a debut tour to Scotland because of visa issues.
He made up for lost time as he scored a decisive 66 in the 50-over match against Oman, in the first of three friendlies at the ICC Academy.
He was aided by Rohan Mustafa (34), Ahmed Raza (24) and Mohammed Usman (21).
After the national team had struggled to 214 all out, their bowlers restricted the touring side to 174 all out. Amjad Javed, Mohammed Shanil, Raza and Imran Haider took two wickets each.
Zeeshan Maqsood’s 70 for Oman led all scorers, but Haider trapped him lbw for the fourth wicket with the visitors on 111 and they collapsed to just 63 runs for their final six wickets.
Mohammed Qasim caught Arun Poulose from a Shanil delivery to break up a 50-run opening partnership for the Omanis, one of two early catches for Qasim.
Khawar Ali had earlier led the Oman attack, taking four for 36.
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