Oman end UAE winning run in Quadrangular T20I Series

Waseem’s swashbuckling 44-ball 84 goes in vain as national team loses to hosts by seven wickets

Muhammad Waseem cracked 84 off 44 balls for the UAE in their defeat against Oman. Pawan Singh / The National

The UAE’s winning run in the Oman Quadrangular T20I Series came to an end at the final hurdle when the host team emerged winners by seven wickets at the Amerat Grounds on Monday.

A swashbuckling 44-ball 84 from the UAE opener Muhammad Waseem went in vain as Oman bounced back from their defeats to Ireland and Nepal and finished the competition on a high.

The UAE sent into bat were coasting at 115-1 13.2 overs before Waseem and Rohan Mustafa (19) fell in successive deliveries to left arm spinner Aamir Kaleem.

Medium pacer Kaleemullah had Basil Hameed (1) trapped in front in the next over before Kaleem picked up Muhammad Usman, Kashif Daud and Ahmed Raza to return with 5-29 from four overs.

The UAE were restricted to 164-8 and Oman knocked off the winning runs with three deliveries to spare.

Waseem belted eight sixes and three fours, and shared an 84-run stand in 48 balls for the second wicket with Mustafa, who chipped with an almost run-a-ball 19.

Kashyap Prajapati, the Oman opener, played the anchor role with a 53-ball 69 not out. He put on 48 for the opening wicket with Jatinder Singh (22) and 71 for the second wicket with Shoaib Khan (34) in the successful chase.

The UAE despite the loss can take a lot of positives from the quadrangular series, which was a warm-up ahead of the T20 World Cup Qualifier.

The UAE won the first two games against Nepal and Ireland, whom they meet in the T20 World Cup Qualifier opener on Friday. They face Germany on Saturday and Bahrain on Monday, with the top two in each group advancing to the knockout round.

The two finalists from that eight-team competition will advance to play at the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.