UAE look ahead after failing to ‘bat responsibly’ against Scotland in World T20 qualifier

The UAE got their World T20 qualifier campaign off to a less than ideal start with a nine wicket defeat to Scotland, reports Amith Passela.

Mohammed Naveed top-scored for the UAE and took the only wicket. Satish Kumar / The National

Mohammed Tauqir, the UAE captain, wants to forget about their opening defeat to Scotland in the World Twenty20 Qualifier tournament to focus on Friday’s second match against Afghanistan.

The UAE’s batting was woeful and their bowling was treated with scant respect as Scotland knocked off the winning runs for the loss of one wicket and with 10 overs to spare after the visitors were skittled out for 109.

The Emirati off-spinner attributed the defeat to “irresponsible batting” at the Grange in Edinburgh on Thursday. “We have to learn from this game and return stronger for the next match and for the remainder of the tournament.

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“It is a long tournament. We need to be bit more responsible, especially in the batting department.

“We know we have some decent batting and they can contribute and still make it a good tournament for us.

“We arrived in Edinburgh two days ago and won a warm-up match against Nepal.

“The conditions here were slightly different but nevertheless it was a good wicket to bat. It was a 150-plus wicket but irresponsible batting was the reason. This is history now.

“We want to put this game behind us and look ahead for the next game and hopefully a good result.”

The UAE play Afghanistan at the same venue in Group B that includes the Netherlands, Canada, Kenya and Oman.

The UAE, sent in to bat, made a strong but brief start with the openers Amjad Ali (14) and Faizan Asif (17) adding 22 in 2.2 overs before the latter fell after facing 10 balls.

The rest of the batting order crumbled, mainly because of poor shot selection.

Preston Mommsen, the Scotland captain, was delighted to start the tournament with the win. “They actually came hard in the Powerplay but we hung in. A score of 150-160 would have been a difficult chase,” he said.

“I don’t think there is any pressure playing at home. To get a first win under our belt is huge. We have a dynamic batting line-up and this sets the tone for us.”

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