The UAE’s prospects of making it to a third successive major tournament are rapidly diminishing after a seven-wicket loss to the Netherlands at the World Twenty20 Qualifier in Scotland.
Roelof van der Merwe, the former South Africa left-arm spinner who has now opted to represent the Netherlands, was the man of the match for his miserly spell of bowling.
The Johannesburg-born spinner, who has played T20 franchise cricket in most of the world’s major leagues, took two for 10 in his four overs, as the UAE managed just 119 for seven.
The pursuit was easy for the Dutch side, who had seven weeks and nearly three overs in hand when victory was achieved.
It was the national team’s third straight loss, and means they need to beat each of Canada, Kenya and Oman in their remaining group games to realistically stand a chance of qualifying for the trip to India next year.
Mohammed Tauqir, the captain, blamed misfiring batting for the UAE’s continued poor form and said his side need to play “fearless cricket” if they are to advance.
“I think the batting is struggling overall,” Tauqir said. “The Netherlands spinners bowled well in the middle overs and we didn’t have a partnership.
“We need to go back and think about things. We still have a chance to qualify.
“We need to play fearless cricket from here on in. We’ve got three games left and we need to win them all.”
Van der Merwe last played international cricket for South Africa in 2010, and has now committed to his mother’s homeland.
“They have made me feel at home from the start, I have fitted in nicely,” he said after earning the match award against the UAE.
The other side from the Middle East in the UAE’s group, Oman, claimed a remarkable opening win against Canada.
The Gulf side had been set a formidable, rain-revised target of 134 to win from 13 overs, and they cruised to it.
They still had 10 balls to spare when Zeeshan Maqsood, who crashed 86 not out from 41 balls at the top of the order for Oman, hit the winning runs.
In the final match of the day, Mohammed Shahzad continued to prove his point. Afghanistan’s burly wicket-keeper batsman was overlooked for the 50 over World Cup earlier this year due to his weight.
However, restored to the top of the order for the 20 over format, he struck 75 in 36 balls against Scotland to set up a 37 run win for the Afghans.
pradley@thenational.ae
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