Scores in brief: Netherlands 216 all out in 49.4 overs (Pieter Seelar 49, Wesley Barresi 42, Manjula Guruge 3-41) bt UAE 210 all out in 49.3 overs (Shaiman Anwar 71, Mohammed Usman 52, Timm van der Gugten 3-44).
ABU DHABI // The UAE suffered an embarrassing series whitewash to the Netherlands, losing the second 50 over-a-side ICC World Cricket League Championship by six runs on Friday at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.
Shaiman Anwar once again stood head above the rest of his teammates with a brilliant 71 off 98 balls after coming in to bat at the fall of the first wicket in the second over.
He shared a 103-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Mohammed Usman (52) before his departure, still leaving his team in a position of strength with 57 required off 76 balls with six wickets at hand.
However, panic set-in following Anwar’s departure. They lost the remaining six wickets for 51, although Rohan Mustafa (27) kept their hopes alive until the final over.
The left hander hoisted medium pacer Ahsan Malik over the wide long-on boundary but top-edged the next and caught at short third man to send the Dutch camp into celebrations.
Ahmed Raza, the captain, was visibly disappointed yet insisted they could take some positives from the game.
“Some way it was disappointing but we played well somewhere to take the game to the final over,” he said.
“Yes of course the result doesn’t show. That happens with the team as we still have to move ahead from here by taking the positives from this game.”
Timm Van der Gugten ended the threatening Anwar-Usman partnership by taking two wickets from four balls.
The medium pacer had Anwar caught at short mid-off and Saqlain Haider (0) held off a top edge in front of the wicket.
Usman went on to complete his half century but couldn’t carry the responsibility on his shoulders for the home side.
“To come here and win the four-day game and two 50 over-a-side matches is an excellent result. Not many teams do that when playing against the UAE in their home grounds,” said Anton Roux, the Netherlands’ South African coach.
The Netherlands won the four-day ICC Intercontinental Cup match by four wickets with a day to spare and the first WCL Championship game by seven wickets after skittling out the UAE for 112.
Netherlands will remain in the Emirates to play a few Twenty20 warm-up matches against local teams as well as the UAE, Scotland and Afghanistan as part of their preparations for the World Twenty20 in India in March.
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