UAE a win away from Super Sixes in cricket World Cup Qualifier

Emirates need to beat tough Scotland side in Group A on Sunday, reports Paul Radley.

Khurram Khan, the UAE captain, may be lucky to be playing against Scotland after two breaches of discipline. Satish Kumar / The National

The UAE will seal a place in the Super Six phase of the World Cup qualifier if they beat Scotland in New Zealand on Sunday, thus bringing a place at next year’s finals a step closer.

Aaqib Javed, the national team coach, said before leaving the emirates that he expected Scotland and Nepal to be his side’s closest rivals in the pool stage of the competition.

His forecast has proved mixed so far. The UAE made light work of Nepal in their opening match before going on to ease past Canada.

Progress has not been as smooth as the numbers might suggest, though.

Khurram Khan, the captain, was reprimanded and fined half of his match fee for two discipline breaches in the same incident against Canada.

He advanced “aggressively” towards the umpire Enamul Hoque-Moni while appealing for a run out, then shook his head over a sustained period of time after the appeal was turned down.

He may be fortunate to be available to lead the side against Scotland.

The Scots, meanwhile, have ground to make up in Pool A after losing to Hong Kong at the start of the competition.

Hong Kong, who the UAE face in their final group game, on Thursday, displayed their own qualification credentials by thrashing Canada on Friday.

The side from the Far East are regular rivals for the UAE in continental competition and, as such, the national team will not be overly surprised by the ease with which they dispatched Canada.

It was an impressive show of might by a side who, like the UAE, are well-populated by expatriate players. Tanwir Afzal, Hong Kong’s opening bowler, returned remarkable figures of one for 11 from his 10 overs, which included five maidens.

Then Irfan Ahmed blazed a rapid century as the Asian side won by nine wickets with half of their overs still to spare. “After two good wins confidence in the team is high, but in cricket one bad day at the office can change all that,” said Jamie Atkinson, Hong Kong’s captain.

“We’ve got two tough games coming up against Nepal and UAE, we just need to work on remaining consistent.”